Preview on the Leafs Entry Draft and Free Agency Summer

TORONTO–Brian Burke and Dave Nonis are in preparation for the 2012 NHL Entry Draft on June 22 and 23 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. This marks a significant year for the Leafs brass, because management really desires punching a ticket into the NHL post-season festivities in April 2013.

Everything starts at the June draft, and all the way into July 1 Free Agency.

Here are several notes on the Leafs draft plans:

Need for Front Line Centre

Objective: If the Maple Leafs can find a quality skilled centre at fifth overall, there is no doubt that Brian Burke will go on stage to announce his name. If you look at the players in the range of No.5, there are three players that comes to mind:

Player Name	Junior Team	Height	Weight	Nationality
Alex Galchenyuk	Sarnia Stings	6'0''	198lbs	American
Mikhail Grigorenko	Quebec Remparts	6'3''	200lbs	Russian
Filip Forsberg	Leksand IF, Sweden	6'3''	202lbs	Swedish

Short Profile on Galchenyuk:

Big power forward that possesses soft hands and scoring ability. Galchenyuk entered the OHL scoring 83 points as a 16 year-old rookie. Unfortunately, he missed the entire regular season due to injury. He returned to play six games with the Stings and scored four points during that span. Galchenyuk has potential to become a first line player, but his knee injury causes concerns.

Short Profile on Grigorenko:

Big and powerful centre with high end skill and terrific shot. He has good skating ability, and is not afraid of playing a physical game when necessary. The downside is that he struggles to play with consistency, and it showed again in this year's playoff run for the Quebec Remparts. Grigorenko has the talent to become an NHL first line centre, but question is, does he have the desire?

Short Profile on Forsberg:

Filip Forsberg has completed two full seasons with the Swedish Elite League team, Leksands. He plays a power forward game, has a hard and accurate shot, and physical presence on the ice. Forsberg also represented the Gold Medal winning team in the World Junior Championships playing a key role in the tournament for Sweden. He needs to work on skating and his choppy stride. Forsberg has the potential to become the next big Swedish power forward.

Free Agency - July 2012

When Canada Day, July 1, arrives, the Toronto Maple Leafs are expected to be busy with expectations to see major changes to the core of the organization. Although the team states that there are some quality players they like to keep, the Leafs lack experienced veteran leaders who can calm the young group when the storms of the regular season hits the team.

Brian Burke and Dave Nonis had spoken publicly that they felt the team has the skill and ability to compete for a playoff spot, but when the team faces adversity, it had trouble recovering from it.

On July 1, if the Leafs are able to attract players, here are a few candidates who could help take the next step:

Player Name	Age	Statistics	Former Team	Notes
Shane Doan	35	22G-28A-50PTS	Phoenix Coyotes	Captain of Coyotes.
Zach Parise	27	31G-38A-69PTS	New Jersey Devils	Captain of Devils.
Alexander Semin	28	21G-33A-54PTS	Washington Capitals	Pure goal scorer.
Ryan Smyth	36	19G-27A-46PTS	Edmonton Oilers	6-time captain - Team Canada
Mikael Samuelsson	35	13G-15A-28PTS	Florida Panthers	58pts in 99 career playoff gms
Dustin Penner	29	7G-10A-17PTS	Los Angeles Kings	GM knows the power forward

Currently, the Maple Leafs have $7.60 mil cap space available to spend with 17 players under contract.