The time has come to start the countdown to the opening night of the 08-09 NHL regular season. The preseason is already underway and we have already got a first look at the new faces in the Toronto Maple Leafs dressing room and front office. With that said, let's break down the new look Leafs.
New Faces:
FW Nicklas Hagman, Jamal Mayers, Nikolai Kulemin, Mikhail Grabovski, Ryan Hollweg
D Jeff Finger, Jonas Frogren, Mike van Ryn
G Curtis Joseph
Key Departures:
FW Mats Sundin, Kyle Wellwood, Darcy Tucker, John Pohl
D Bryan McCabe
G Andrew Raycroft
This offseason the Leafs sent a few recognizable faces packing and brought in some fresh faces to try and avoid being out of the playoff picture for the 4th year in a row. However, many of the moves made were for players with potential that may be reached in the future.
Forwards
Antropov--Grabovski--Ponikarovsky
Blake--Stajan--Steen
Hagman--Moore--Mayers
Kulemin--Hollweg--Tlusty
Other Noticeables: Bell, Devereaux, Williams, Newbury
Most of the forwards on this Leafs team would be fixtures on secondary scoring lines elsewhere in the league. They play very well and get an A for effort, but whether they have raw talent remains to be seen. Tlusty got a good feel for the NHL last season playing in 58 games, scoring 10 goals and 6 assists. He will be counted on to improve, as well as everyone else, and will most likely double his numbers this year.
Another young talent new to this team is Nikolai Kulemin. A forward most well known for being Evgeni Malkin's former linemate on Magnitorisk (in Russia), he scored 21 goals last year in the Russian league and should be ready for full time duty as well as increasing his numbers. Mikhail Grabovski is also looking to spike up his numbers, especially if he gets bumped up to the first line, as he is expected to be given every opportunity to excel inbetween Antropov and Ponikarovsky
Some of the returning veterans counted on to produce on scoring lines will be Nikolai Antropov, Jason Blake, and Alexi Ponakarovsky. Antropov had a career-high 56 points last year and GM Cliff Fletcher has previously stated that he is the main man up front for the blue and white this year. If the leafs expect any opportunity for the playoffs this year Antropov is going to need to put up another career year for the Leafs.
Jason Blake went from 40 goals to 15 last season, but most fans didn't notice how much his 37 assists helped the team. However, Blake should still return to at least 20-30 goals and around 60-70 points in the coming year.
Ponikarovsky is now a fixture on the top two lines and scored 35 points in 66 games last year. Solid numbers, but not good enough for a 1st or even 2nd liner. He is one of the top forwards though, and he will be expected to have put up numbers that he has never put up before.
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