For fans of the Toronto Maple Leafs, it has been a long 5 years. The last time the Leafs played a playoff game at Air Canada Centre, was April 21, 2003. Travis Green netted the winner in double overtime, Ed Belfour made 35 saves, played over 90 minutes, and the Leafs defeated the Philadelphia Flyers 2-1 to force Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Quarter Final. Seems kind of distant doesn't it? After 3 seasons of not making the playoffs, the Leafs hired Brian Burke as their 13th General Manger in club history. With Burke's Resume,Leaf fans were very excited, and he has not disappointed. Since day one, it has been Burke's mission to strip down this team of age and salary, fill it with youth and grit, and make it a contender, and he is doing just that.
Burke's first deal was acquiring tough guy Brad May from the Anaheim Ducks, to give his team some needed toughness remarking: "It's gonna be more physical hockey here than people are used to". Despite missing the playoffs, Burke had picked up two more draft picks and acquired college free agents, Viktor Stalberg, Christian Hanson, and Tyler Bozak, who have all developed well under coach Ron Wilson. The Leafs continued on to the draft, taking highly touted prospect Nazim Kadri and 6 other players. Burke remained busy acquiring Mike Komisarek, Colton Orr, Carl Gunnarson, Garnet Exelby, Francois Beauchemin, Richard Wallin, Jonas Gustavsson, Wayne Primeau, and of course Phil Kessel. On paper this team seemed more than capable of making the playoffs but stumbled out of the gate with sniper Phil Kessel injured, and could never recover.
Noting the goaltending woes, and still wanting to get tougher, Burke showed the league he was serious about bringing the cup to Toronto. On January 31, Burke pulled two blockbuster deals trading struggling goaltender Vesa Toskala, and the underachieving Jason Blake, to Anaheim for goaltender and former Conn Smythe Award winner J.S Giguere. This move finally brought a proven number one goalie to Toronto, and cleared about $4 million in cap space. He then proceeded to trade Matt Stajan, Jamal Mayers, Niklas Hagman, and Ian White to the Calgary Flames for tough hitting defencemen Dion Phaneuf , penalty killing specialist Fredric Sjostrom, and tough prospect Keith Aulie. The trade had immediate benefits in Toronto, with the Buds going 13-10-3 over their final 26 games with Phaneuf and Giguere in the lineup, after a record of 7-15-4 in their previous 26. Burke then continued to shed salary sending Alex Ponikarovsky to Pittsburgh for hometown grit player Luca Caputi and shipping Lee Stempniak to Phoenix for a draft pick and a prospect.
So here we are, Brian Burke has about $8 million in cap space, a fairly deep FA market, and a few teams with cap issues. This will likely mean the movement of some top forwards this summer. Burke also has trade bait in Tomas Kaberle (who is reportedly on the market), and Mikhail Grabovski's name, has also been thrown around. Burke has said publicly that teams have shown serious interest, and reportedly the Buffalo Sabres, Anaheim Ducks, New Jersey Devils, and Columbus Blue Jackets have shown interest. If a bidding war were to break out Toronto would be the winners.
Names like Patrick Sharp, Bobby Ryan, and David Clarkson, have been popping up as players who could possibly be wearing the blue and white nest season. The Chicago Blackhawks are going to have cap issues in the off-season, and with a bulk of cap space dedicated to Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews, and Duncan Keith, there will likely not be any room for the likes of Patrick Sharp, Kris Versteeg, and Andrew Ladd. Burke has been seen at a few Blackhawks games this season, and Patrick Sharp has been rumoured to been his target. Bobby Ryan has declined an extension offer from the Anaheim Ducks, and the young sniper is set to become a free agent. Burke has a history with Ryan, drafting him 2nd overall behind Sidney Crosby in the 2005 draft while General Manager of the Ducks, and his name has been in rumours around Toronto since Burke's first day on the job. The New Jersey Devils are also in the same position as the Chicago Blackhawks in regards to cap space, which may make players like David Clarkson available.
A more recent name that has been thrown into the mix is free agent Ilya Kovulchuk. At 27, and with six 40-goal seasons already under his belt, he has been called the best unrestricted free agent in NHL history. Normally a player with a reputation of not playing defence, would be a deal breaker for Brian Burke. Kovulchuk was traded at the trade deadline to a New Jersey Devils team that plays a strict defensive system, under the hard nosed Lou Lamirello. Under this system, Kovulchuk, was forced to play better defence and backcheck, naturally he became better in the defensive zone, all the while still averaging a point a game . Burke also has options to make room for a salary the size of Kovalchuk's. If Jeff Finger, Mikhail Grabovski, and/or Tomas Kaberle are moved, like it is rumoured they might be, this would create enough space for a big salary, and still enough for Burke to re-sign his key free agents . Toronto might be an attractive option for the Russian sniper. With a promising future, and being on arguably the biggest stage in pro hockey, Kovalchuk would provide a great punch with young sniper Phil Kessel, and might be the franchise player the Leafs need to get over the 43 year Stanley Cup hump.
Without a first round pick this year, it has also been reported that Burke is trying to acquire one. Kaberle would likely be packaged in any deal to attain one. The Columbus Blue Jackets have reportedly shown interest, sitting at 4th overall in this years draft. Also the Florida Panthers (No. 3), the Anaheim Ducks (No. 12), and the Buffalo Sabres (23) have reportedly shown some interest. If Burke could somehow get any of these picks, especially the Panthers No.3 pick, it leaves him a number of options on draft day.
D Cam Fowler - Windsor Spitfires (OHL)
Fowler is a solid two-way defenceman. Even though he is young, he lacks any noticeable weaknesses in his game. Fowler is a great skater, especially for his big size, and looks very comfortable at full stride. Defensively, Fowler is extremely strong positionally, and playsa boat load of minutes against other team’s top lines. However, Fowler is equally good on the offensive side of the puck.
Overall, Fowler looks to have all the tools to be a big time defenceman in the NHL. While his offensive potential may not be as high end as some think, he definitely has the ability to be a very good two way defenceman, and should be ready for NHL duty as early as the 2010/2011 season.
LW Brent Connelly - Prince George Cougars (WHL)
Connolly is a good sized winger that needs to fill out physically to truly hit his potential, it will just take time. Connolly's strength is his ability to find ways to put the puck in the net. He has a terrific shot that’s accurate and comes with a quick release. Connolly should transform into a 30+ goal scorer at the NHL level rather easily. His skating is decent, and he has great hands to go along with it. Connolly also has a knack for being in the right place in the right time, something big goal scorers are often notorious for.
F Nick Bjugstad -Blaine High School (Minnesota) Nick Bjugstad is a monster forward. The 6′4″ 188lbs centre moves very well for a big man, and can really break down a team with his speed and skill on defence. He also competes hard every night, and like most others, needs to fill out his slender frame. Once he does that, Bjugstad could add a mean physical dimension to his game. While he currently is committed to the University of Minnesota next year for the 2010/2011 season, he would need the year to bulk up and get some more experience.
RW Nino Neiderreiter- Portland Winterhawks
After coming over from Switzerland to play in the WHL this season, Niederreiter has been a strong player for the Portland Winterhawks. Neiderreiter has showed a solid combination of skill and physical play, which has has made him a star in Canadian Junior Hockey. He was easily one of the Top 10 defencemen at the last World Junior Hockey Championship.
With all of these possibilities, and the possibility of more to come, it looks like Leaf fans finally have something to be excited about. Brian Burke has put the Toronto Maple Leafs in a good position, not only going in to the off season, but into next season and beyond. The Maple Leafs will be a much more exciting team to watch next season, and avoiding injuries, a playoff berth shouldn't be far-fetched. Burke is making the Maple Leafs franchise respectable in the league once again, and may now draw some serious interest from potential free agents. We just watched one original six team end it's Stanley Cup drought, how soon will it be before we see another?
