Toronto Maple Leafs: Why The Opposition Will Fear to Play This Improved Team

The Toronto Maple Leafs have failed to make the playoffs ever since the lockout of the NHL after the 2004 -2005 Season. They were close to being the 8^th seed in the ’05-’06 season, but their playoff hopes were shattered by the New York Islanders after Long Island defeated the Devils in a shootout. Ever since that season, the Maple Leafs have not been close to being playoff contenders, but this season, after many significant changes by Brian Burke, the Maple Leafs look to be a playoff team again.

Firstly, let’s review what Brian Burke has brought to Toronto over the past two seasons.

  His first big move was making a blockbuster trade with the Boston Bruins that included trading two 1^st round picks and a 2^nd round pick to the Boston Bruins, in exchange for scoring phenom, Phil Kessel. Kessel turned out to be a great acquisition, scoring 30 goals in 68 games. With a full season ahead of him in 2010-2011, Kessel could easily be a 35/40 goal scorer.

 Now, I am not going to go into much detail with the rest of these acquisitions but here is a quick recap of what Brian Burke has done to make the Toronto Maple Leafs a playoff contending team.

  He acquired Dion Phaneuf from the Calgary Flames, along with Big Man Keith Aulie and Power Play specialist, Fredrik Sjostrom. Later on in the same day, he acquired veteran goaltender J.S Giguere from the Anaheim Ducks in exchange for “falling apart” goalie Vesa Toskala, and Jason Blake. With these trades, the new lineup won 3 games in a row, TWICE, during the final stretch of the season.

With the off-season coming up, everyone was interested in what Brian Burke would do to add some much needed offense to the organization. He indeed filled up everyones hopes and excpectations by making a blockbuster trade with the Cup Champion Chicago Blackhawks, acquiring Kris Versteeg in exchange for Viktor Stalberg (main players in trade). Then, on July 1^st, he signed Colby Armstrong, which is a kind of person who fits as Brian Burke’s type of player, Physical and Offensive. He then signed Brett Ledba, a very good defensive defenseman. He later added Clarke Mcarthur to the mix of players. But one trade that no one barely remembers is the trade that brought Mike Brown to the Maple Leafs. He is a very physical Player and would fit well on a line along with Mitchell, and Orr.

There was also a lot of trade speculations about Tomas Kaberle, but the thing was, Brian Burke was not interested in what other teams were offering for a top-notch defenseman, therefor leading to Kaberle remaining a Maple Leaf. In an interview with the media a few days ago, Kaberle declined the remarks that his father was making. Kaberle confirmed “Me and Ron [Wilson], do argue sometimes, and that’s a natural thing between a coach and his players”.

Next, there is big hype whether or not Nazem Kadri will be in a Maple Leaf uniform by the beginning of the season. In my opinion, he has proven to Brian Burke that he is NHL ready and he should be centering the second line on opening night. He packed up some much needed pounds.

In conclusion, The Toronto Maple Leafs have built a playoff ready team. With Dion Phaneuf as their 18^th captain in franchise history, Giguere and Gustavvson in-between the pipes, and the league’s best defensive lineup, The Leafs have their eyes set for the Playoffs.

My Prediction: 7^th In the Eastern Confrence.