Pool Outlook for Toronto

The Maple Leafs in a time of rebuilding. I guess this might be a bit of a common theme for teams that finish near or at the bottom of the standings, because if you're not in the playoffs, you're building towards the playoffs. The Leafs are no exception to this statement, especially with all the young talent the Leafs have cycled through their roster in the 2010 season. There is certainly plenty of promise building between the walls of the Air Canada Centre, but did it really translate into even an okay place to pick fantasy players from in 2010... or is it going to be in 2011?

The biggest addition to the Maple Leafs club in the last 12 months has been Phil Kessel, who is known for his shooting prowess and scoring abilities. Despite missing a good number of games at the start of the season, Kessel still managed to lead the Leafs in scoring with 30 goals and 25 assists in 70 games. His 55 points ranked him 92nd in the league in pool scoring, which is a way down on the charts, but in fairness, he had plenty of different linemates and his skill still lifted him into the 30-goal range, which is still pretty good in this day and age. Kessel is going to need some help, but at least we're all aware that he can still do quite a bit on his own.

The rest of the Toronto forward lines were not very productive at all in the 2010 season. Second to Kessel's 55 points was Nikolai Kulemin, who finished with 36 points (16 goals & 20 assists) in 78 games. Most puddles have more scoring depth than the Leafs had this past season, so it has to be job #1 for the Leafs to drum up some scoring this summer, more likely via trades and free agency than anywhere else. Mikhail Grabovski, Tyler Bozak, Viktor Stalberg and John Mitchell all played 60 games or less (a lot less for some) and they were also next in line when it came to scoring depth. A very sad state of affairs.

The Leafs on defense are far from terrible, but if the forwards aren't going to score goals, there is a pretty good chance that the defense are not going to pick up assists in large quantities either. Tomas Kaberle actually enjoyed a fairly productive season with Toronto in 2010, including some very offensive weeks. Kaberle led the defensemen on the team with 49 points in 82 games, which isn't a bad scoring rate for a blueline, but he did have 12 points in one week, so that kind of takes away from his consistency a little. The also added Dion Phaneuf to their mix to go with other rough & tumble defenders like Francois Beauchemin, Mike Komisarek and Luke Schenn, so they are doing a lot to build from the back.

Of course, goaltending was a soft spot again for the Maple Leafs, as they really took their sweet time to find a groove that they could work with and win with. Jonas Gustavsson was brought in during the Summer to help solidify their crease in a learning role, while Vesa Toskala didn't do well enough to stick around, being dealt away to the Ducks for another veteran goaltender, J-S Giguere. Giguere was definitely a better mentor for Gustavsson down the stretch, helping the team work a little bit better together and there was some positive results, including a stretch of winning 5 of 6.

2011 Season Outlook
What we can all expect from the Leafs in the 2011 season is more change. Granted, I expect to see a lot more change before anyone even hits the ice in September, but by this time next year, I think there is going to be one column on the table below that will look drastically different.

Forwards	Defense	Goalies
Phil Kessel	Tomas Kaberle	Jonas Gustavsson
Mikhail Grabovski	Dion Phaneuf	J-S Giguere
Tyler Bozak	Francois Beauchemin
Viktor Stalberg	Luke Schenn
Fredrik Sjostrom	Carl Gunnarsson
Colton Orr	Jeff Finger
	Mike Komisarek

There are a good number of young names and contracts on that table above, but there are a few names that have a significant price tag on their toes. Currently, the Leafs have $46.2 million in annual cap space taken up by the 15 players above. For a rebuilding franchise, that might be a tad high, especially with a severe lack in consistent scoring.

It's not a very heavy duty class of unrestricted free agents from the Leafs this summer, as Jamie Lundmark, Rickard Wallin, Wayne Primeau and Garnet Exelby are the headliners of the bunch. Personally, I wouldn't be surprised if these guys were left out in the warm sun when July 1st rolls along, just to make room for some of the emerging youth.

The restricted free agents that need some negotiation love this summer make for a short list as well. Nikolai Kulemin, John Mitchell and Christian Hanson all have entry-level deals expiring at the end of June, so they will have to be dealt with in one form or another. I'm expecting them all to have qualification offers tendered to them without much fuss.

The Leafs have signed and used a lot of their young players already, which must speed up the maturation process for a lot of their kids and system, but it really doesn't do much for their stables in the minor leagues. It does look like Nazem Kadri is going to get a firm look at training camp, after playing one game already with the Leafs on an emergency call-up. Kadri has plenty of speed to burn and lots of grit, so he does have the dynamic that both Brian Burke and Ron Wilson are looking for in new players.

The Leafs are without their 1st round pick heading towards the Draft this Summer, but Burke is a wily manager and might be able to swing something, but a lot of his quotes and comments suggest that he's pleased with what he's done by trading the picks away.

What I said at this time last year... "I am still a fan of Vesa Toskala and I don't think I would have any problem picking him for my team, especially if he gets a clean bill of health before training camp. He's been a good goalie on a poor team, but the team is turning itself around, especially defensively. Don't discount Tomas Kaberle just yet, because he should be able to keep himself healthy again, he doesn't appear to me to be such a health risk. This way you can possibly sneak him through at a reasonable pick and get a good bargain... unless you are in a pool full of Leaf fans. Finally, myself, like anyone else, is very curious to see how Brian Burke goes about his business this summer. It would be exciting to hate the Leafs for the right reasons again."

When I wrote that piece last year, Toronto hadn't signed Jonas Gustavsson yet, so Toskala was the best goalie on the team at the time, so I still stand by that quote. Toskala did remain healthy, but Ron Wilson probably smashed his confidence into smaller pieces than we can possibly imagine. Also, the Leafs still hadn't traded for Kessel, so there was that missing from the thought process as well. I would say that my thinking about Kaberle was right, as he did have a great year thanks to being healthy again, but one year on... we still hate the Leafs for just being the Leafs... not for being a good team.

As for 2011... I'm not going to expect any miracles, but if the young Maple Leafs can really buy into a hard-working system, they could be a little more competitive next season. It's not a lot to ask to work hard, but whether or not that will always translate into more scoring is a pretty big question. The defense and goaltending will have a training camp and pre-season to really work things and concerns out, but the game of hockey desperately needs some offense to compliment the defense. This Summer will be very telling to how the Leafs will look come September, hopefully they can address their issue of getting help for Phil Kessel, which will sort a lot of issues out.