Jonathan Tavares Has the Toronto Maple Leafs Dreaming of the Next One

Mats Sundin recently stated that he has high hopes of returning to the Toronto Maple Leafs and join in the rebuilding to fulfill his career long goal of winning the Stanley Cup.

How are the Leafs going to do that?

Going into 2008-09, conventional wisdom had Toronto finishing near the bottom of the league with a chance to draft local OHL star John Tavares.

Cliff Fletcher made headlines earlier this year by saying the Maple Leafs had only one true top-six forward. Gretzky said the franchise needs to go through a couple down years for it to rebound.

Brian Burke is the new president and general manager of the storied franchise at the centre of a hockey-mad market, in a city that has not celebrated a Stanley Cup championship in 41 years.

Apparently the plan remains to see the Leafs finishing dead last (or close to it) for the next two to three seasons so they can get top draft picks and then build a franchise around them.

At the beginning of the 2008–09 season, John Tavares was ranked as the top OHL skater by NHL Central Scouting.

Following his MVP performance at the 2009 World Junior Championships, NHL Central Scouting established Tavares as the top North American skater

Tavares is closing in on the 400-point mark for his four-year OHL career. He has 196 goals.

The league's career record is 215 by former Ottawa 67s forward Peter Lee.

The Knights have 20 games left. At the rate he's scoring, it's a foregone conclusion.

Since the big trade, he has 13 goals and 20 points in just seven games.

Tavares was shut out recently. How did he respond? With five goals and 10 points in his next two games.

Tavares became the first player ever to be granted "exceptional player" status by the OHL, which allowed him to be drafted at the age of 14, several months before his 15th birthday.

Tavares is the youngest player to ever be drafted in the OHL, although Bobby Orr was signed and had played at a younger age.

The 18-year-old Knights forward started the month, and the new year, by leading Canada's World Junior Hockey Championships entry to a gold medal in Ottawa. He was named the MVP of the tournament, tallying eight goals and 15 points in six games.

Just three days after being named MVP he was dealt by the Oshawa Generals to the Knights in an OHL trade deadline deal.The team is considered one of the contenders for the Ontario Hockey League championship,

With such a strong presence at the World Juniors, and his strong performance so far in London, many critics have Tavares as a lock for the No. 1 draft pick this year, over highly-ranked Swedish prospect Victor Hedman.

Step 1: Trade Deadline

a. Burke could trade Antropov, Ponikarovsky and Van Ryn at the deadline and collects three picks in the first two rounds of the draft.

b. Jamal Mayers, Dominic Moore and Ian White could be traded for selections in the third and fourth round of the draft.

c. Trade for quality first and second round selections in the 2009 draft.     Antropov, Ponikarovsky, Stempniak, Grabovski, Van Ryn, Toskala, Stajan, Mayers, Moore, White, Joseph, and Jason Blake. Almost all have had periods of exceptional play.

d. The trick is to trade up as often as possible in order to select the most talented of the group. The Leafs need at least 4-5 selections in the first two rounds of the draft.

e.They have to sign a top-line centre and a high scoring right winger.

Step 2: Find a taker for Blake and in return take a player with a shorter contract and/or a manageable buyout. Left winger Sean Avery comes to mind.

Step 3: Finish last and draft Tavares.

Step 4: Sign another top-line centre and left winger, both capable of putting up 80-90 points, who agree to sign front-loaded deals.

Step 5: Re-sign Antropov in the offseason.

Step 6: Keep Brad May.

Step 7: Grabovski, Hagman, Kulemin,

Step 8. Retire the numbers of former Leafs superstars and lift the infamous curse of the Maple Leafs.

Step 9: Get Robbie Earl from the Marlies. His elite speed fits perfectly with the young Leafs and guarantees he’ll spend at least part of his career in the NHL. He’s currently with the Marlies. Earl was a late cut by the Leafs and should see some time with them this season.

Oh! Wait a minute! They have traded minor-league winger Robbie Earl to the Minnesota Wild in exchange for Ryan Hamilton.

Step 10: Keep Schenn alongside Kaberle. Schenn is a Calder Trophy candidate.

P.S. Justin Pogge is the future of the Leafs. Don't let CuJo retire.