Toronto Maple Leafs Driving to Stanley Or Back To The Drawing Board

1967. An ugly number for many Leaf fans. Has it been bad management, or just bad luck ever since? Now that JFJ is out and Cliff Fletcher is back, the rebuilding can begin.

First off, goaltending had been an issue with the Leafs since they acquired Andrew Raycroft. Things got better when JFJ succeeded in creating a trade for Vesa Toskala, but thing were still not quite ready yet. Now that Andrew Raycroft is out of the picture, Cliff Fletcher signed Cujo (Curtis Joseph) to a one year contract to help back up Vesa. In my view, the goaltending problem is now stable, and they can concentrate on other issues.

Antropov, Bell, Blake, Devereaux, Earl, Foster, Mayers, Hagman, Ponikarovsky, Stajan, Steen, Tlusty, and Williams are the forwards that are currently on the roster.. Let's see how it could work

Line1: Steen, Stajan, Antropov

Line 2:Blake, Devereaux,Mayers

Line 3: Ponikaraovski, Grabovski, Foster

Line 4:Hagman, Tlusty,Earl

x-Bell

(there's a huge lack of right Wingers)

Since the Sundin issue is still in questioning, I have not included him in the roster. I think the Leafs need to generate more speed, and maybe call up a couple of players from the minors, or send some back.'

Calaiacovo, Finger, Kaberle, Kubina, McCabe, Stralman, White are the current defensemen on the roster. Currently, Cliff Fletcher is making arrangements to get Jonas Frogren to pair up with Stralman like they did when they played for team Sweden. I think the Leafs should give McCabe and Kubina another year to improve, and then see if they still want to buy them out. Here are some defensive pairs I made.

Kaberle, Finger

McCabe, Kubina

Stralman, Frogren

x-Colaiacoco, White

These are my thoughts so far, I still think the Leafs have a lot more to do before beginning next season. In my opinion, the defense seems to be shaping up, the offense just needs a little more molding.