Toronto Maple Leafs: Is the Glass Half Full or Half Empty?

Over the past five games, the Toronto Maple Leafs have earned a total of six points, beating the Boston Bruins, Washington Capitals and Montreal Canadiens, while dropping contests to the Pittsburgh Penguins and Philadelphia Flyers.

Winning three out of five games sounds great, but the reality is the Maple Leafs are still 4-5-1 in their past 10 games and a paltry 11-14-4 on the season, which puts them in 28th place in a 30-team league.

After a nice 4-0 start to the season, the Maple Leafs struggled to find their consistency. The Leafs have been shut out a league-leading five times, have struggled on defense, offense and, most recently, between the pipes.

The Fans have responed by letting the team hear the boo-birds on more than a few occasions and, more recently, waffles have been thrown out onto the ice!

Fans have called for head coach Ron Wilson to be fired, people are questioning general manager Brian Burke’s moves and Phil Kessel was recently called out by his coach—deservedly so.

It’s often far too easy to be negative about your hockey team when they are losing. While I would be the first one to agree that the Maple Leafs deserve their fair share of criticism, there are some bright spots they can take away from this season and beyond.

Mikhail Grabovski (a player some were calling “the worst second line centre in the NHL”) has been very good this season, scoring eight goals, 20 points, while posting a decent plus-one rating.

Mind blowing stats they are not, but Grabovski’s play gives the Leafs Nation something positive to point to in an otherwise dismal season.

Clarke MacArthur—a player 29 other NHL teams passed on—has emerged as the Maple Leafs scoring leader with 22 points. His inspired-play has been a treat to watch, as was his fight against Jaroslav Spacek last night!

Mike Brown has earned the hearts of the fans and the trust of his teammates for his well timed toughness and defensive prowess. He may not do anything great, but he does give it his all every shift—something more than a few of the current roster players could learn from.

Grabovski, MacArthur and Brown are just three examples of the positives. It’s the bigger picture that is most important—and there are some good building blocks there as well.

Although Phil Kessel has struggled this season, it is worth noting that he really hasn’t had anyone to play with. If Burke can find a way to bring in a legitimate playmaking centre, Kessel’s performance is bound to rise.

Very few players are capable of scoring 30 goals, Kessel is a threat to do that for the next 5-10 seasons, which is great news for fans of the Blue and White.

Other building blocks up front include Nikolai Kulemim (who is rounding into a decent two-way forward), Nazem Kadri (who looks like he will need some more seasoning in the AHL), Tyler Bozak (who, if used as a second or third line centre, should perform well) and Kris Versteeg (who has been snake bitten thus far but is showing signs of snapping out of it).

The future may also include the likes of prospects Jerry D’amigo, Brayden Irwin, Marcel Mueller, Brad Ross, Luca Caputi (who has already had a cup of coffee with the big club),Greg McKegg (who looks like a steal from last summers NHL Entry Draft) and Mikhail Stefanovich.

On the backend, Dion Phaneuf, Luke Schenn, Keith Aulie and Carl Gunnarsson will likely emerge as the Leafs top four as early as next season, while Simon Gysbers and Jesse Blacker will be knocking on the door before long.

Between the pipes, Jonas Gustavsson represents the immediate future, while James Reimer, Jussi Rynnas, Ben Scrivens will all be vying for playing time with the big club.

The reality is the Maple Leafs would probably benefit from bottoming out for the next 2-3 seasons, but that isn’t an option right now.

With no first-round draft choice in this summer's Entry Draft, the Leafs will not benefit from a poor season this year, but with the Leafs currently the youngest team in the NHL, a couple of more years developing and stocking up on their talent pool wouldn’t be the worst thing for this club.

That said, let’s all remember that, as bad as the Phil Kessel (who is just 23-years old) trade is/was in many people’s minds, Burke did bring in a legitimate top-flight scorer.

Realistically this is a team that, for the most part, has unfair expectations thrust upon it by the fans and, to a lesser extent, Brian Burke himself.

Burke has tried to speed up the re-tooling process in Toronto, attempting to balance losing out on future talent for players that he feels can contribute right away.

The jury is out on Burke’s acquisitions of Phaneuf, Francois Beauchemin, J.S. Giguere and Kessel. There have been plenty of arguments for and against each deal—the truth is probably somewhere in the middle.

With just over $20 million in cap space next season, Brian Burke was likely looking to bolster his lineup with a couple of key UFA signings. That plan is slowly looking more and more like a pipe dream, as many NHL teams are locking up their UFA’s with long-term/big money contracts.

That means Burke will likely have to try to acquire a piece or two via trade, which is easier said than done these days.

The formula for success these days is to bottom out for 3-5 seasons, use your draft picks and build around them accordingly.

The Pittsburgh Penguins (Stanley Cup Champs in 2009) and Chicago Blackhawks (Stanley Cup Champs in 2010) are prime examples of this winning formula, as are the Los Angeles Kings—who, after losing for the better part of a decade are now pimped out in prospects and young talent.

The Maple Leafs glass looks to be half full, but in order for us to really see the benefits of Burke’s outside-the-box thinking and non-traditional signings, it will be another 2-3 years down the road.

Outside of a few rare cases (Steven Stamkos, Sidney Crosby, Alex Ovechkin, Jonathan Toews), talent doesn’t mature over night (see Nazem Kadri, Kyle Turris, etc.). Maple Leaf fans need to learn to show a little patience and have faith that, while not perfect, Burke has a vision for the Buds.

The bottom line is, regardless of the trades you make or the UFA’s you sign, teams that win always win with the talent they develop from within—something the Maple Leafs have done a horrible job of in the past.

What matters going forward is that the Maple Leafs develop what they have. You cannot worry about past failures, past trades or missed opportunity via free agency.

Leaf fans need to realize that it is going to take Brian Burke another year or two before this team will be a legitimate playoff contender and maybe another three seasons after that before this team is able develop into a legitimate Stanley Cup threat.

There are no miracle players on the farm, no miracle players available through free agency (although Brad Richards would help immensely) and there are limitations on how far a young player can develop.

Sure, the cup is half full, and it will be a while before it’s filled to the brim.

So be patient, recognize the team for what they are and hold on to the belief that Brian Burke is an excellent hockey man with a proven track record for identifying talent and making team-altering trades and, most importantly, winning.

Until next time,

Peace!