Fill In The Blanks: Maple Leaf Edition

Let’s get the obvious stuff out of the way so that we can concentrate on the Leafs front lines.

The goalie situation for the Leafs is pretty clear. Gustavsson and Giggy will take of the duties there. If an injury occurs the Leafs have more than enough depth at the goalie position to weather the storm. With Rynnas and Reimer being the goalies for the Mar lies this season and Scrivens and Engelage the goalies at the ECHL level, the Leafs will have a bevy of talented goalies to fall back on.

Oh yeah, and Giggy will start the season as the starter. What happens after that is anyone’s guess.

 The defense core is pretty much set as well. With Phaneuf, Beachemin, Komisarek, Schenn, Gunnarsson, Lebda, and Kaberle (for now) on the NHL roster, the defense core seems set.

The pairings would look something like this: Phanuef-Beachemin, Komisarek-Gunnarsson, and Schenn-Ledba….and don’t forget Jeff Finger.

Beachemin ended the season playing really well along side Phaneuf and Komisarek really should play with a defenseman that can move the puck. Same goes for Schenn.

Just like the goaltending position the Leafs have really good depth when it comes to defense. The Leafs have at the moment seven NHL defenseman along with the “Big 4” waiting in the wings. The “Big 4” refers to Kieth Aulie(6’6”, 208lbs), Korbian Holzer(6’3”, 190lbs), Juraj Mikus(6’4”, 185lbs), and Simon Gysbers(6’4”, 200 lbs). Honorable mention goes out to Petter Granberg (6’3”, 200lbs) and Jesse Blacker (6’2”, 190lbs). Although Granberg will not be coming to North America this year, he will be here within a year or two.

So now that we have stated the obvious, let’s move on to the forward core.

The Leafs forwards are: Phil Kessel, Tyler Bozak, Nikolai Kulemin, Kris Versteeg, Marcel Mueller, Colby Armstrong, Mike Brown, Mikhail Grabovski, John Mitchell, Colton Orr, Freddy Sjostrom, and Nazem Kadri.

So these are the potential lines in no specific order:

Kessel – Bozak – Kulemin

? – Kadri – Versteeg

Armstrong – Grabo – Sjostrom

Orr – Mitchell – Brown

With the recently signed Jerry D’Amigo attending training camp this year trying to earn a spot on the top six, he and the player the Leafs acquire for Kaberle (hearing Clowe plus a 1^st) are the options to fill in the blanks.

There are some rumors out and about the Leafs signing Eric Belanger, only rumors at this point, it looks like Grabo may be a player that gets traded for a pick or picks. There are also rumblings out there that the Leafs will not hesitate to add Raffi Torres at the right price.

So Leaf fans, are you liking what you see? Can the Leafs get better? Can the Leafs make serious head way in the standings this year with the above lineup?

I think so. Goaltending is key and the Leafs will get solid performances no matter which one of the Monster or Giggy get the start. The Leafs defense with the help of newly crowned captain Dion Phaneuf will be much better, but Schenn and Gunnarsson are the real wild cards. If they can continue to take make strides and take the next step in their development and become consistent NHLers the Leafs will no doubt have one of the best defense cores in the league.

When it comes to offense I really don’t sweat it. Our offense is good not great, but if there is anything that we learned last year from Boston, Ottawa, and Buffalo who were seeded 6^th, 5^th, and 3^rd in the East last year goal scoring is not key.

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