Many Questions, Few Answers For 2009-10 Leafs

Four full seasons (and one lockout) have passed since Jeremy Roenick's overtime goal eliminated the Toronto Maple Leafs from the playoffs, seemingly for good. With their captain gone, a new GM, a coach preaching accountability and a stable full of kids and bruisers, could this be the year the Buds finally make it back to the postseason? Here are the key questions heading into the new season.

Is Vesa Toskala healthy? Is Jonas Gustavsson going to take his job anyway?

Toskala battled injuries all through last season before finally shutting it down just before the trade deadline. If his surgery takes, we could see a return to the form that saw him pushing Evgeni Nabokov in San Jose hard enough to get himself traded. Gustavsson, the unproven Swede, will find himself in a backup role, though who's to say what will happen at the end of this season, when Toskala's a free agent and the Monster's had a year's tutelage under new goaltending coach François Allaire.

Who plays on the top line?

As Brian Burke himself stated last season, the Leafs had maybe one top-six forward, in Nik Antropov (who was traded at the deadline). Up front, the Leafs have added, well, no one who would qualify as a top-sixer, though a few players have plenty to prove. Matt Stajan, the hometown boy, has been the alleged future of this team since his first full season in 2003-04, and his icetime last year allowed him to find a new gear and total 55 points. Does this make him a number one center? What about the up-and-down Mikhail Grabovski, who, with 48 points last season, has gotten himself a top-sixer's contract, at $2.9M per for three years?

The wings are a little more certain, with stalwart Alexei Ponikarovsky on the right (or the underachieving Lee Stempniak should Poni falter), and one-time 40-goal scorer Jason Blake on the left. Should Blake and Stajan find some chemistry, topping 30 isn't out of the question for coach Wilson's favorite whipping boy, Blake, who, though Leafs fans were too busy booing him to notice, did lead the team with 25 goals and 63 points last year.

And finally, the x-factor up front may be Jiri Tlusty: still inconsistent at the NHL level, once he was sent down for good in January, he lit up the AHL, going point-a-game (25G, 41A, 66GP) and even recording a five-point night. If he puts it together, he could finally prove himself to be a worthy first-round pick for this franchise, and will give the Leafs three lines centered by fast, young offensive threats.

Which defensemen make the team... and which one will be traded first?

Obviously, offseason signings Mike Komisarek and François Beauchemin are in. So too is Tomas Kaberle, provided he isn't still on the trading block. In a perfect world, Luke Schenn keeps a job, but this is Toronto, and he'll have to contend with three seasoned NHLers (Mike Van Ryn, Garnet Exelby and Ian White), a stay-at-home D-man making $3.5M (Jeff Finger), plus Jonas Frogren, who the Leafs liked enough to break league rules to sign.

Schenn had a good first year, but he needs top pair minutes to keep developing, which points to a year as the Marlies' no. 1, and he should have Frogren to keep him company on the way over to the Ricoh. White and Exelby will be in the four and five spots. Finger and Van Ryn will split time at six, subbing until someone (either of them, or Kaberle) is finally dealt.

Do the Leafs name a captain?

Not yet. The only legitimate contender is Tomas Kaberle, and the city and team brass alike have spent the whole summer talking about trading him: in a transitional period, look for Komisarek, Exelby and Stajan to lead, but no captain will be named this season. The mantle is likely being held for a developed (and signed long-term) Schenn.

What? Jason Allison?

Allison scored 60 points in 66 games in his only season as a Leaf. Two full seasons gone, injuries reportedly healed and distractions including a divorce out of the way, one of the most reviled (and slowest-skating) Leafs in recent memory could be back up front. He's a longshot, but then again Theoren Fleury might be back this year too: a return to, at the very least, power-play form by the enigmatic Allison could help this team immensely (so long as they play some fleet backcheckers alongside him).

Will any rookies make the team?

Tyler Bozak's goal in the first preseason game was a stunning individual effort. Then again, it was in the first preseason game, in which 160-pound Nazem Kadri, flanked by Wayne Primeau and Colton Orr all game, also scored a point. Kadri's point was an assist on a goal by 6'3" late-round surprise Viktor Stalberg, who emerged last season at the University of Vermont. Given the situation on defense, the only chance rookies have is up front, but with the addition of brawn (and maybe Allison), only Tyler Bozak should see the bigs.

Kadri will go back to the OHL's London Knights, Stalberg and Christian Hanson will be Marlies, and even sophomore John Mitchell, after a solid third-line season last year, could see himself bumped down in favor of experienced Swedish pro Rickard Wallin. In the wake of injuries, AHL tough guys Ben Ondrus and Andre Deveaux saw a lot more playing time than they should have in 2008-09, but they won't displace healthy NHL-tested warriors like Orr, Primeau or Jamal Mayers.

Will this team make the playoffs?

Brian Burke says yes, but In today's NHL it's hard to say: parity is the name of the game. The Leafs will be marginally better than 10th, 11th and 12th place, and marginally worse than 6th or 7th, and while you don't win Stanley Cups by squeaking into the playoffs, after five years of darkness there may just be a light at the end of the tunnel. If the rock-solid blueline holds the fort, if Toskala's healthy, if Wilson's focus on work-ethic keeps resonating, and if Grabovski, Stajan and Tlusty keep getting better, then the Leafs have as good of a shot as anyone.