Toronto Maple Leafs: 7 Players from the GTA the Leafs Should Consider in 2012-13

In the March 3rd edition of Coach's Corner on CBC's Hockey Night in Canada, Don Cherry ripped into the Toronto Maple Leafs organization for not dressing any hockey players from Ontario.

It shouldn't matter where a hockey player hails from, but based on the evidence he provided in the show, perhaps Grapes has a point.

In any case, here is a list of seven players who aren't just Ontarians, but natives of the Greater Toronto Area as well who the Leafs should consider bringing in before or during the 2012-13 season.

Most of the players in this slideshow aren't likely to don the blue and white next season, but leave reason at the door and let us fantasize about how great it would be to have them.

Players who have absolutely no chance of getting traded to Toronto (i.e. Steven Stamkos, John Tavares) were left out of this slideshow.

We're dealing with fantasy here, not lunacy.

Rick Nash (Brampton)

Forget the potential cost of Rick Nash's acquisition and just imagine how nice it would be to have him on the team.

Of course, the cost would be prohibitive (curse you, facts and reason), but he would provide an instant upgrade to the Leafs' top-six group of forwards with respect to both size and skill.

Wayne Simmonds (Scarborough)

The Leafs don't have anyone capable of being (or perhaps nobody willing to be) an effective net-front presence.

Wayne Simmonds is kind of like the player Colby Armstrong was given $9 million to be.

The Scarberian has one more year left on his contract with a very agreeable cap hit of $1.75 million.

The Philadelphia Flyers are likely very happy with Simmonds and won't let him go for cheap, assuming of course they'd even consider letting him go.

Let's conveniently ignore that for now.

David Clarkson (Toronto)

Who doesn't love a guy who can score 30 goals in a season and top it off with 138 PIMs?

The words "fan favourite" come to mind.

Unfortunately, when you think of fan favourites among the current Leafs, nobody comes to mind.

They sure could use a guy like David Clarkson.

Chris Stewart (Toronto)

A player who is willing and able to get Gordie Howe hat tricks deserves respect.

Chris Stewart may have had a down year with the St. Louis Blues, but he has proven himself to be a capable power forward.

He had over 100 PIMs during the 2011-12 season and scored 28 goals in each of the two seasons prior to that one.

Expect Stewart to have a big rebound season in 2012-13.

Joel Ward (North York)

The Leafs don't necessarily need Joel Ward, but his acquisition would certainly help solidify their bottom-six group of forwards.

It would add toughness, experience and a scoring touch as well.

Ward is remembered for his admirable playoff performance with the Nashville Predators back in 2010-11 when he had seven goals and 13 points in 12 games.

Ward's numbers dipped this year both in the regular season and the playoffs, but he has proven himself to be a reliable two-way forward.

Brian Elliott (Newmarket)

Acquiring Brian Elliott may or may not be a good idea. It really depends on whether his performance with the St. Louis Blues during the 2011-12 season was a fluke or not.

Then again, he'd likely be an upgrade over any goalie in the Toronto Maple Leafs organization right now.

Mike Zigomanis (Toronto)

If the Leafs are looking for a hard-working guy who can kill penalties and win faceoffs, they need look no further than Mike Zigomanis of the Toronto Marlies.

Zigomanis is a heart-and-soul, lunch-pail type of guy.

He has paid his dues and deserves every chance to crack the Leafs' lineup this fall.

Of course, if the organization operated as a meritocracy, he'd have cracked it long ago.