As the Brian Burke era continues in Toronto with a resounding lack of playoff appearances, the crowds in the Air Canada Center would consider getting restless if they hadn’t opted to check their blackberries instead.
Toronto Maple Leafs still need goaltending to fall in place
After surprisingly few changes to some of the Maple Leaf’s biggest issues, GM Brian Burke appears to be betting more on new head coach Randy Carlyle’s defensive focus and internal growth than any other factor.
Greg M. Cooper-US PRESSWIRE
With the club making the decision to dump head coach Ron Wilson less than two months after his dramatic Christmas Day contract extension announcement, replacement head coach Randy Carlyle limped the club home with a 6-9-3 finish before giving Burke a chance to revamp the roster that crashed and burned after a spectacular start.
The More Things Change...?
Though most pundits expect that Randy Carlyle will work to improve the club's defense behind captain Dion Phaneuf, the club's largest question mark remains their goaltending, an area that at best had a sideways improvement. The "Monster" disappointment of Jonas Gustavsson was sent to Winnipeg at the 2012 NHL draft for a 7th round choice, but the pending UFA made the decision to head over to Detroit, instead.
In his place, the club appears set on running with James Reimer and Ben Scrivens in net, hoping that Reimer's struggles last season will prove to be a sophomore slump as he expands into a full time starter. Scrivens, who saw brief stints with the main club, will be asked to become a full NHL backup, and hopefully bring his numbers in line with his Marlies stats rather than the 3.06 GAA he posted during his first 12 NHL games.
Given the levels of "Ifs" "hopes" and "maybes" in those plans, it's not surprising that the Maple Leafs have been linked to possible trades for Roberto Luongo or Jonathan Bernier, but at this point it the club's weakest link remains the same as last season.
On the defense, the club did send Luke Schenn to the Philadelphia Flyers in exchange for James Van Riemsdyk, opening up more ice time for Jake Gardiner and RFA Cody Franson. Toronto has also made moves to improve their feculent penalty kill by signing veteran Jay McClement and new assistant coach Dave Farrish.
Up front, the team will need another big season from Phil Kessel and Joffrey Lupul, provided he can stay healthy, and the same concern will be attached to JVR until he can prove himself in Blue and White. Recently re-signed Nikolai Kulemin will be expected to provide something closer to his 2010-2011 breakthrough season, and the team's youth (Nazem Kadri, Tyler Bozak, Matt Frattin, and perhaps recently signed first round pick Tyler Biggs) will all be expected to buy into Carlyle's defense first system while finding opportunities to contribute offensively.
If this sounds familiar, it’s because it’s roughly the same plan (minus JVR) that the club had for last season under Ron Wilson, but the club appears to be betting on a new coach and the relatively minor shakeups from the offseason to help push them over the top. Interesting choice, given the club is going to be featured in the 2013 Winter Classic (assuming there’s a season to play it in), and the pressure likely to follow the club both internally and externally leading up to the event.
It’s a strategy that could pay off, but without clear answers for some of their core questions, it seems like the upcoming season is still very much up in the air.
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