Mike Brophy

Veteran hockey columnist Mike Brophy writes Mondays, Wednesdays and Friday on Sportsnet.ca and appears regularly on Hockeycentral.

Mike Brophy thinks that taking a chance on Sheldon Souray is worth the gamble.

With the playoffs upon us, here are some final thoughts from the 2009-10 regular season:

MOST IMPROVED PLAYER

One of the great things each year is identifying the players who made significant strides. This season where were a whole host of candidates for most improved player.

The most obvious is Los Angeles Kings defenceman Drew Doughty who went from being a blue chip prospect to being a potential Norris Trophy candidate. Not only was Doughty a significant contributor to Team Canada's gold-medal victory at the Winter Olympics in Vancouver, he also increased his goal output in his sophomore season by 10 and his points total by 31. Perhaps most significant is the fact he went from being minus-17 to plus-20.

Nobody doubted Steve Downie's potential to be an impact player, but there were some feared his uncontrollable anger and lack of discipline might prevent him from ever reaching his potential. If Tampa Bay coach Rick Tocchet did one thing right this year, it was getting Downie to be one of the Lightning's best and most trustworthy players. Downie went from scoring three goals and six points with Tampa and Philadelphia the year before to scoring 22 goals and 46 points with 208 penalty minutes. He was also plus-7 on an otherwise lousy defensive team.

Guillaume Latendresse was plodding along as a third-liner with no visible upside with the Montreal Canadiens, but upon his trade to Minnesota, he become something of a scoring machine, connecting for 25 goals and 37 points in 55 games.

Matt Moulson lingered in the Kings organization scoring six goals in 29 games over two seasons of spot duty, but blossomed into a 30-goal man with the Islanders after being claimed on waivers.

Although technically still a rookie, Detroit Red Wings goaltender Jimmy Howard is a fifth-year pro who took a while to find his stride. He finished eighth in the NHL in wins with 37; fourth in save percentage at .924 and fifth in goals-against average at 2.26.

NOT SO IMPROVED

Three players who will be looking for bounce-back years next season:

Bryan Little, Atlanta Thrashers. After a breakout season in his sophomore year, when he scored 31 goals, Little fell back to just 13 this season. If the Thrashers are to make the playoffs next year, he'll need to find his touch again.

Brad Boyes, St. Louis Blues. After seasons of 43 and 33 goals, Boyes dipped to 14 on a team that desperately needed his offence. If that isn't bad enough, he had 27 power play goals in the last two years combined and managed just two this season.

Milan Lucic, Boston Bruins. Injuries were a factor in Lucic falling from 17 goals to nine. One thing is certain though, all that talk about Lucic being the next Cam Neely fizzled.

OIL SPILL

Wow, it didn't take long for things to turn messy in Edmonton. Veteran defenceman Sheldon Souray wants out of town, which really isn't a secret since he said he'd waive his no-trade clause at the trade deadline, and now it seems the Oilers will be happy to oblige. Only one problem: Souray has two years remaining on his contract that will pay him $4.5 million a season. Worse, his cap hit is $5.4 million. How many teams can afford him?

Souray's stay in Edmonton has not been an enjoyable one. Injuries have conspired to keep him sidelined a good portion of the time, although two years ago he scored 23 goals in 81 games. He managed just four goals and 13 points in 37 games this year.

At 33 years old, Souray still has plenty left in the tank and if a team rolls the dice on him, it will likely reap the benefits. Assuming he returns to health, I think he is worth the gamble. It's too bad things didn't work out in Edmonton because the Oilers remain a team that has trouble attracting frontline talent as free agents. This messy situation won't help.

NOWHERE TO GO BUT UP

The Toronto Maple Leafs finished 30th in power play and penalty killing, 25th in goals-for and 29th in goals-against. To be fair, the team you saw playing at the end of the season was significantly different from the team that started the year as GM Brian Burke continues on his makeover. All of that said, you would think there will be pressure on Toronto's coaching staff to show significant strides in the aforementioned categories early next season.

TRADE TALK

Lee Stempniak and Raffi Torres are both slated to become unrestricted free agents this summer. When Stempniak was traded to the Phoenix Coyotes by the Maple Leafs, he responded with 14 goals and 18 points in 18 games. Torres was traded to the Buffalo Sabres by the Columbus Blue Jackets and managed just five assists in 14 games. It will be interesting to see how their play down the stretch affects their contract negotiations.

DID YOU KNOW?

Sidney Crosby and Alexander Ovechkin have now played five years in the NHL. Ovechkin has outscored Crosby 529-506, but has played in 25 more games. Crosby averaged 1.36 points per game compared to 1.34 for Ovechkin.