Given how the Maple Leafs handle their young players, it's no surprise to see them struggle.
All we ask for is a plan.
A plan for Nazem Kadri, whose first crack at the National Hockey League ends in abject failure, demoted Dec. 29 to the minor league Toronto Marlies.
A plan for Tyler Bozak, who was set up to fail this season like few others, handed first-line centre status in high-pressure Toronto with only 37 NHL games on his resume.
Did anybody think that would work out well for the kid?
A plan for the season, and maybe — just maybe — a plan that may one day see the Toronto Maple Leafs transition from punch-line to powerhouse. Because right now, as the Boston Bruins lick their chops at the likelihood of another lottery pick, the Leafs are no more than Canadian comedic fodder, buried 12 points below the playoff line in the weak Eastern Conference.
We are two years into general manager Brian Burke’s master plan, and at this point — with Kadri’s demotion signaling that Toronto’s organizational strategy is forged by the blowing wind — the sighting of a "minor" plan would be a giant step forward.
Kadri, 20, was yarded up from the minors along with 21-year-old defenceman Keith Aulie on Nov. 12 at a desperate time.
Toronto was in the midst of 10 losses in 11 games, and would host Vancouver on Hockey Night in Canada in the pair’s first game.
It was guaranteed loss night in Toronto, a horrible NHL entry point for two precious Leaf prospects. They were dragged into a situation where Rome was burning, the pressure was coming from all sides, against a far superior opponent in Vancouver.
Kadri, buoyed with counterfeit confidence from being called up before he was ready, was asked before the game about a three-game suspension he had just received in the AHL. Would he serve the final two games of it when he returned to the Marlies?
"If I go back," he corrected reporters.
Well, Kadri was sent back to serve that suspension Dec. 29, five days after Aulie’s premature NHL debut been ended by the Leafs. Like placing first-line centre pressure on the shoulders of the inexperienced Bozak, it was classic mishandling of an organization’s top prospects.
"He’s had a tough time the past three or four weeks," Wilson said of Kadri. "We’ve tried to help him work through it up here but the best thing for him right now is to go down to the minors, play, score at the level he can score at and gain some confidence. He can learn some of the things he still needs to learn there. It’s difficult to do that in the crucible that is the NHL."
NHL managers are supposed to know that before making mis-guided, panic-button call-ups. They are paid to predict a young player’s readiness, and Burke clearly failed on Kadri and Bozak.
"He still needs to get stronger. (And) there are aspects of the game he still is struggling with at the NHL level," Wilson said. "Strength. Little areas like faceoffs. Being quick. Avoiding turnovers."
With their minor league team just a few miles away, don’t you wonder why the Maple Leafs had to call Kadri up to the big team to spot those deficiencies?
Between Kadri and Aulie — Toronto’s two top prospects at forward and defence respectively — they did not score a goal in 29 games.
Kadri’s 17-game stint ended by spending two of the final three games as a healthy scratch.
His ice time fell from nearly 20 minutes per game early on to just 11 minutes in his final game on Boxing Day.
While rookies such as Taylor Hall (11 goals) and Jordan Eberle (22 points) have improved by the game, Kadri went the other way, failing to score a goal. Whatever Burke and Wilson say about Kadri’s first crack at the big leagues, he can only look back on it as a clear affirmation that he is anything but ready to play at this level.
His confidence, if he is like any other 20-year-old we’ve known, will take some time to recover.
Meanwhile, it took only 15 games for Bozak’s blueprint to unravel.
With the Maple Leafs sporting a 5-7-3 record and only five points by their totally overwhelmed No. 1 centre, head coach Ron Wilson mused on Nov. 11, "It might help right now, to be honest with you, if I would take some of his ice away."
Three prospects and three forgettable debuts by an organization that put more on their plate than they were able to handle.
Maybe it’s a good thing Burke dealt away all those draft picks to Boston.
It doesn’t appear this team knows what to do with young players anyhow.
