The Toronto Maple Leafs have not been into the playoffs since the 2003 season which was the season before the NHL lockout that wiped out the whole 04-05 season and since then the Leafs have struggled mightily since with the Leafs always butting together superb end of the season run when the pressure is off and the closest they got was when in 2007 they need the Islanders to lose to the New Jersey Devils on the last day of the season and they beat the Devils 3-2 in a shutout and the Leafs missed the playoffs by a single point.
On November 29, 2008 Brian Burke was introduced as president and GM of the Leafs and he made a huge splash with a sign and trade with the Boston Bruins to get Phil Kessel for a first and a second in 2010 and a first in 2011 but then came the big problem because the Leafs had money burning up their pockets and under the salary cap and were and still are in need of a top center to feed Kessel the puck. The first situation was to use Tomas Kaberle as trade bait and Burke dangled him in first of the media for two summers and the center did not appear and not even a top 6 forward was pulled out of a hat and it got so bad that just before Kaberle was to become a free agent Kaberle and his agent put a muzzle on Brain Burke as Burke said he, Kaberle and agent Rick Curran are dropping a veil of secrecy on the subject. Then the next solution was to try and pick up the young superstars on other teams when they can not afford them and hoping those players would like to come to Toronto because they are local talent and want to come back home to play and the first was Rick Nash who eventually he resigned a huge deal with the Blue Jackets worth 27 mil over 5 years. Then there was Steven Stamkos and it got so bad that Brian Burke came out in the media and said if the Lightening are not able to resign Stamkos then they should phone him before taken the picks that the team that signs him would need to give the Lightening and Steve Yzerman the Lightening GM laughed and said we are not going to trade him and we are going to match any offer a team offers him. Finally there was John Tavares of the New York Islanders who just lost a proposal for a new Arena and looked like a dead duck with their lease up in 2115 and in the end John Travares signed a 6 year deal worth 33 million to stay with the bottom feeding Islanders.
Now they went out and spent over 4 million dollars this season to Tim Connolly to be the starting center on the first line with Kessel as one of his wingers but now the only problem is that Connolly is a hit away from being a vegetable as he has had serious concussion problems and another may end his career. The only real possible big fish in the trade waters is Shea Weber who got an almost max deal and is with the Nashville Predators who can not afford to be above the cap floor and of course there is a problem and this one is that Weber is a defenseman and the Leafs are stacked on the D with most of their money that they have used up of the salary cap and the only way they pick up Shea Weber is if they can find a fool to pick up Dion Phaneuf 6.5 million a season and with today signing of Luke Schenn 5 year and 18 Million dollar contract it brings it to 7 of the 9 highest paid players are D-men including Jeff Finger who will play in the minors.
So Burke will need to keep looking for the best talent as they still have money to spend and a need to get better upfront especially with the chance that will not last the season and he really needs to figure out how to do his business in private because when he tries to make deals through the media. In the end the Leafs in the 2011-12 season will go as far as James Reimer will take them and it is always risky business to pin your hopes on a second year goalie but at least for now he has a great head on his shoulder.
Frank and Wesley I hope they are great team this season and make the playoffs so U can remember what it feels like to playoff run
Tom Mehegan
No comments:
Post a Comment