With only one of their own first-rounders in the lineup, the Leafs can't win for losing.
The Washington Capitals had nine of their own first-round draft picks in Wednesday night’s shootout thriller over the Toronto Maple Leafs. Two more — goalie Semyon Varlamov and '09 draft pick Marcus Johansson — were in the press box, injured.
The Edmonton Oilers, feisty 4-3 losers against Vancouver Tuesday, iced seven first-rounders in that game.
And Toronto? One first-rounder selected by the Maple Leafs was in their lineup at the Verizon Center: defenceman Luke Schenn.
If you want to pen the tale about how one organization (Washington) has become a perennial Stanley Cup contender, while the other has become the Toronto Maple Leafs as we know them, that statistic is as good a place to start as any.
Or you can juxtapose Toronto with that other rebuilding Canadian team in Edmonton, the only club in the National Hockey League with a worse record last season than Toronto.
Like Edmonton has done on most nights this season, the Leafs left Washington trying to wring positives from another loss on Wednesday, their seventh in the last eight games. Only one point, but lots of good vibes, if only the playoffs could be made with happy feelings and warm thoughts.
Playing without their injured captain, on the second of back-to-back games and in a very difficult building, Toronto offered a game effort Wednesday. They pulled out of a scoring drought with three third period goals in a 3:03 span, blew that lead, but then weathered a Washington powerplay in overtime to reach the shootout.
It was the first time the Leafs have scored four goals in a game in eight contests, and the struggling, in-over-his-head centre Tyler Bozak netted one, only the fourth goal by a Toronto centreman all season long.
All are positives that soothe the savage Leafs fan, but aren’t worth much in the standings. Welcome to the Oilers world, a team that forged three-goal comebacks twice in the past week and walked away with one point for their troubles.
For me, the comparison began on Sept. 18, 2009, when Brian Burke declared he would not rebuild the traditional way, and dealt away two first-round draft picks and a second-rounder for Phil Kessel. You can’t say it’s the right way or wrong way to rebuild, because we just do not know yet.
Time, of course, will tell.
In conservative Edmonton they stuck with the traditional rebuild, stock-piling draft picks and dumping pricey veterans. Today, both teams are bottom feeders, living through the same inconsistent performances and attending the same school of hard knocks.
But while Edmonton dies most nights with youth, it seems the Leafs biggest problems with their fan base have come from setting the bar unrealistically high. From talking playoffs with a team that would finish 29th, to putting the 'C' on the defensively-challenged Dion Phaneuf and then ripping the fans who boo him after a string of poor games.
The fans in Toronto spend more money than any other group of fans on the planet to watch their team play hockey. They know the game as well as anyone, and they are well aware that Maple Leafs Sports and Entertainment has done nothing short of a pathetic job in building a hockey team that is commensurate with what that market deserves.
“Frankly I think it’s a disgrace,” Burke said of Leafs fans who booed Phaneuf. He’d have been more accurate if he were talking about his own work thus far.
So the season wears on, Toronto sitting just below the playoff cut line after a strong start, and Edmonton holding down the 30th spot in the league.
Burke will build his roster mostly by signing undrafted free agents like Bozak and Jonas Gustavsson, and trading here and there for established players who were developed by other teams.
Edmonton will go back to the draft next June with what will likely be another Top 5 pick, and could have as many as two or three players on the league’s all-rookie team this season.
And Washington? They are miles ahead of either Canadian team, needing only to solve their post-season troubles.
We’re wondering whether Toronto, or Edmonton, will be the first team to find themselves with that problem.
