The Leafs may have the pieces in place to make a long-awaited return to the playoffs next year.
Same old, same old for the Toronto Maple Leafs?
There will be those, I am certain, who will make that claim. You know, the Leafs make another futile late-season run that brings them to the brink of the playoffs, but once again they fell short.
Technically they are right. There is no denying that.
But didn't this year's run have a little different feel to it? Aren't there signs that finally, after years of futility, the Toronto Maple Leafs are moving in the right direction?
That's how I see it.
Sure it was disappointing to see the Leafs lose in a shootout to the Washington Capitals. Not that it really mattered. The fact the Buffalo Sabres beat the Tampa Bay Lightning was all it took for the Leafs playoff dreams to come screeching to a halt. That game actually ended before the Leafs lost.
So now it's time - once again - to look forward. I wouldn't say the future's so bright you've gotta wear shades, but…
Let's start with the fact the Maple Leafs have the potential to have three 30-goal scorers. Phil Kessel and Nikolai Kulemin have both hit the 30-goal plateau while Mikhail Grabovski is one behind at 29. That hasn't happened since the 1995-96 season when Doug Gilmour, Mike Gartner and Mats Sundin all topped the 30-goal mark. True enough the Leafs probably counted on more than 30 goals from Kessel, but you could easily make the case that both Kulemin and Grabovsky took important steps in their careers and are now legitimate top-six forwards. Both players should be counted on for 30-goals seasons for a few years to come.
Captain Dion Phaneuf has not gotten back to the level of offence he produced in his first three years in the NHL with the Calgary Flames, but in the final two months of the year we saw signs of him finding his game. Phaneuf became a more consistent defender averaging more than 25 minutes of ice time per game and started to re-establish himself as a physical force. If Phaneuf can find a way to get more of his shots to the net instead of high or wide, there's no reason to believe he can't get back to the 15-20 goal level again.
Since Brian Burke took over as GM of the Leafs nearly three years ago, one of the most common complaints about his team is the fact his team's cupboards were bare -- no draft picks or blue-chip prospects. That is no longer the case.
Start with Keith Aulie who looks to be on the verge of becoming a terrific shutdown defenceman. The 6-foot-5, 217-pounder has massive upside. Did you see the way he played against Alex Ovechkin last night? Also, after looking a little too small and slow during his first go-around with the Maple Leafs earlier this season, Nazem Kadri looks much more comfortable in his second stint and has shown some of the creativity that made him a scoring star in junior with London.
In rebuilding his team this season, Burke also grabbed a couple of first-round draft choices from the Philadelphia Flyers and Boston Bruins. Sure they are late first-round picks, but it's better than nothing, which is what they had in the first and second rounds last June. Knowing Burke, he'll try to package the two picks and either move up in the draft or try to get another top-six forward.
Burke also acquired big centre Joe Colborne and defenceman Jake Gardiner from the Boston Bruins and Anaheim Ducks respectively. Both were first-round picks (Colborne 16th and Gardiner 18th in 2008) and look like they are close to being NHL-ready. With the two first rounders and these two players, the Leafs future suddenly looks significantly brighter.
Last, but certainly not least, is James Reimer. He Maple Leafs do not award an annual most valuable player award (insert your own joke here, please), but if they did, the smiling stopper would certainly own it this season.
Reimer was a godsend to the club this season. Neither Jonas Gustavsson or Jean-Sebastien Giguere - for various reasons - were getting the job done and Reimer came out of nowhere to become the Leafs best and most-important player. Reimer's 20 wins are more than they other two put together.
It's far too early in this 23-year-old's career to predict what kind of a career he'll have, but it has been a treat watching him carry his team to within inches of making the playoffs.
All in all, the team fell short of its goal of making the playoffs. When it regroups next September and talks about playing in the post-season being its No. 1 priority, it won't seem nearly much of a pipedream as it has in the past.
