SB Nation - Luke Schenn

Leafs at Sabres

Chemmy — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 18:30:15 -0000

On November 9th, 2007 Andrew Raycroft shut out the Buffalo Sabres. Since then the Leafs are 2-8-1 against Buffalo with their last win coming more than a calendar year ago on December 12th at the HSBC Center. To say Buffalo has our number is a huge understatement.

The Leafs are a team that allow a lot of goals and whose offense is often stymied by hot goaltenders. The Sabres have lots of forwards who can score and the best goaltender in the league right now; Ryan Miller.

Vesa Toskala will get his seventh start in a row tonight. His last showing was piss poor but on the whole he's played almost acceptably and to be honest that's good enough for this team. The Leafs don't need Toskala to be a superstar or even to be league average, and let's face it he won't ever be, they need Toskala to not singlehandedly lose games. Over their past games the Leafs are 4-2-0 with Toskala putting up an 0.899 save percentage over that span. Take out the Phoenix game and the Leafs went 4-1-0 over a five game stretch where Toskala put up a league average save percentage of 0.913.

Luke Schenn is out of the press box tonight and Viktor Stalberg was called up from the Marlies. Jeff Finger was benched for most of the third against Phoenix so I'd expect him to sit, while Rickard Wallin was invisible again and will make room for Vik. I'd like to see Stalberg get some time with Stempniak and Primeau on a checking line that's incredibly quick and drives to the net for goals. Stalberg's goals in the preseason came from hard nosed play in front of the net and it'd be nice to see him get back to that.

Last year I got a great Christmas gift when the night before I flew to the Bahamas the Leafs knocked off Buffalo at home. I'm hoping that at the least this is some sort of weird annual thing. The Leafs have a tough weekend and coming out of it 1-1-1 would be huge. Let's get that started on the right foot tonight.

Remember your SPG picks, check out Die by the Blade for Sabres coverage and go Leafs go!

Friday links: T.J. Oshie superstar edition

averagejoe — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 11:00:21 -0000

Friday!

Blue news

Blues vs. Tampa tonight. Can St. Louis beat the Lightning? Let's hope so. [CBS Sports]
I hate question mark headlines, but this one does raise a point. When do the struggling vets get the Matt Walker tour of arena press boxes? [St. Louis Post-Dispatch]
T.J. Oshie claims he doesn't think he's a star. Good, because he isn't. A star has more than 20 career goals. [Belleville News-Democrat]
One thing learned in this Jeremy Rutherford chat: he expects a trade before Murray gets the boot. [STLtoday]

Hockey news

Last night's results. [Yahoo! Sports]
Blues and five others are playing tonight. [Yahoo! Sports]
Canada is unhappy about not getting a Winter Classic yet. At least this guy is. [Toronto Sun]
A look at the 10-worst deals of the aughts. Shockingly, no Chris Pronger for Eric Brewer, Doug Lynch and Jeff Woywitka. [Puck Daddy]
Henrik Zetterberg suffered an upper-body injury last night. [ESPN]
Luke Schenn (sophomore slump) and Jonas Gustavsson (heart) are expected back for the Leafs on Friday. [TSN]

David Kock and Jarkko Ruutu received fines. [TSN]

Other links

This is extremely complicated, but cool nonetheless: The beerodic table. [Pic]
More year-end countdown stuff: The top 15 local news stories of the year. [Buzzfeed]
I've never written on a stall wall, but I've often thought about it. As a lefty, I'm usually pretty close to the wall and as a journo, I always have a pen in my pocket. Anyway, these people aren't like me and write on walls. [OMG Staff Wall]
I don't have many rules, but if you submit to this Web site, we can't be friends. [Rate My Pecs]

Video

Look, the video well has dried up. After doing this for like 10ish months, I'm about tapped out. So today, you're getting Muppets.

Lisa Simpson: Dad, what's a Muppet?

Homer Simpson: Well, it's not quite a mop, and it's not quite a puppet, but maaaan! (laughs) So to answer your question, I don't know.

Poor College Student has the weekend shift. I'll be in Kansas City helping a friend move. Go BLUES!

Ask and Ye Shall Receive, or Be Careful What You Wish For...

blurr1974 — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 10:00:26 -0000

I made the mistake of pointing out a slow trickle of blog posts for yesterday's previous FTB, and what do you know? It's a full on deluge of posts today! When it rains it pours. I think I've filled my cliche quote for the day...

Are we there yet? (via www.sfjohnson.rtsquad.org)

More on the disaster with the dingos from JaredFromLondon, Toronto Mike, budBlog and Kohma.
Do the holidays have you stressed out? Is there no one who can offer you sane advice for your home entertaining questions? Of course there is, Loser Domi knows just the person!
The Far Away Leaf sees some ugly issues from previous months rearing their ugly head. Are we in for a return of the losing streak?
Get down Joey MacDonald, Viktor Stalberg is up in da hizzy! Oh ya, Luke Schenn returns as well. MLHS gives you da 411. Word.
Frozen Leafs thinks this is no time for Driving Miss Daisy, we need some Days of Thunder!
Random thoughts. Kavel Pubina's got 'em .
Vintage Leaf Memories is reminiscing about the original twelve. Wherefore art thou California Golden Seals!?!
Is the graffiti trying to tell us something? The Torontoist says yes! What say you?
A new season needs a new calendar. Changing On the Fly has something you might kinda sorta think is TOTALLY AWESOME!

UPDATE

Shield stayed up all night, just to write something for you.
Jared has the return of the LOLeafs.

Coyotes at Maple Leafs

Chemmy — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 18:52:17 -0000

View full size photo »

Puck Drop: 7:30PM ET TSN

Our provincial rivals the Hamilton Coyotes are here in town for another big rivalry match. Oh. Well, nevermind. The Coyotes are from the Western Conference which means that they're probably better than the Leafs and none of us have seen them play or have any idea what colors they wear and who's on their team.

Over at SBNation's Coyotes blog Five For Howling OdinMercer (shown to the right) has posted an image of raking leaves which would be funnier if everything in Arizona wasn't burned to a crisp by their four hundred degree weather. I'm not sure if Coyotes fans will understand what a rake is or does. In fact the only thing harder to find in Arizona than Coyotes fans is potable water. Question: do Arizona residents need to rake cactus spines at any point during the year? Do cactus spines not fall off? Please let us know we're curious.

The Leafs look to make it five straight wins at home and with the Weekend of Horrors coming up (At Buffalo, Boston, Buffalo) this could be our last chance at a win for a while. Phoenix currently sits seventh in the West, ahead of Detroit, Dallas and Vancouver.

Ilya Bryzgalov has played very well this season but was shaky in Phoenix's loss to Detroit on Monday. Running down their player stats, Radim Vrbata leads the Coyotes with 10 goals, followed by Scottie Upshall with 9 and both Shane Doan and Robert Lang have 7. The Coyotes are a team that don't give up a lot of goals (75 GA in 33 GP, compared to Toronto's 97 GA) and they'll look to shut down the best friend of their worst enemy, one Mr. Phil Kessel.

Vesa Toskala starts his sixth in a row (please don't fail us now) and Luke Schenn enjoys game number three from the pressbox. I hope Wilson has a good plan here because while I'm not a huge fan of sending Schenn to the Marlies I'd rather have him in the AHL than the pressbox for an extended stretch. I'm not condemning the move though, Schenn's play hasn't been up to par and he needs to snap out of it. Hopefully this angers him up and gets him playing his game again.

There were rumors earlier this week of Jonas Gustavsson starting tonight but his return from the ablation was rushed last time and I hope the Leafs learned their lesson and sit him another week. He's an asset for the future and Toskala has played well over the past few weeks; no need to rush the Monster.

Don't forget your SPG picks and as always go Leafs go!

Celebrating the Leafs Good Points...

blurr1974 — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 10:00:26 -0000

is much easier when they're actually winning games. Wouldn't you agree? Moral victories are all well and good (psst, they're not) but a few "W's" are what it's all about. When those losses pile up, it's easy to lose sight of the reasons you even cheer for the team you do.

In case that happens again, maybe you'll want to bookmark this to jog your memory.

Memories... (via i376.photobucket.com)

Have you ever asked yourself: "Does this hat make me look ridiculous?" Apparently, neither have Flyers fans. Our own WAC takes us shopping and delivers the proof.
The general has 8008s on the brain. Oh, that's an acronym; BoOBbB. Never mind what I was thinking...
Jared's all about swimmin in women wit they own condominiums, 5 plus 5...what? No, seriously, what? You hatin' on P-Diddy? You be trippin'...
Steve takes a look at a few positive notes about the Leafs season so far. I'm assuming they all kind of explain the recent wins.
The Battle of Ontario boys got drunk last night, and at least two of them enjoyed the game.
Big Brother: Episode 3. Who will stay, and who will go? *Your vote decides, as two player's livelihoods hang in the balance. (* Note - no actual voting takes place, and if it did, yours wouldn't be counted.)
Now that Luke Schenn is completely ruined for the rest of his life because noted hockey experts like "el Cox" have deemed their opinions as more important and correct than those who actually, you know, WORK in hockey for a living. (deep breath...) TSM was wondering, what should the Leafs do with Schenn?
Could it be? Do the Leafs suddenly have a "shut down" line? When did this happen? Should I keep asking questions? Where are you going?
What does the week ahead hold for the Leafs? Stuff. Important stuff with hockey and practices and ninjas. And they'll probably have a pizza party. Also, other stuff. Frozen Leafs can fill you in on that.
Sure the Leafs are winning, and yes, they're one of the hottest teams in the league. We know they beat the Eastern Conference leading Capitals. However, that doesn't mean they're any good. Or does it?
Lastly, a non-hockey related post that, in my old age, I was quite certain I authored. Here's what you young whipper snappers, with your internets and your sexting and your combination Pizza Hut and Taco Bell have to look forward to.

Will Any Maple Leafs Defencemen Be Heading To Vancouver?

David Danforth — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 15:30:13 -0000

More photos » by CHRIS YOUNG - AP

Sorry Beauch. Don't pack those bags yet...

Browse more photos »

The other day we looked at Canada's defence to try to figure out who would be sporting the Maple Leaf in Vancouver. But what about the Leafs' defenders? Should any of them start booking their flights to the West Coast? The snap reaction will be to look at the Leafs' current 29th ranking in goals against per game (3.50 - yikes!) and call them all bums. However, some countries just don't have better players. I know, it's weird. Canada might be spoiled. Without further ado, check out after the jump to see if you agree and then share your thoughts in the comments.

Pack Your Bags

	GP	G	A	P	+/-	PIM	PPG	SHG	GWG	GTG	SOG	PCT
2009 - Tomas Kaberle	32	2	29	31	-5	6	1	0	0	0	60	3.3

There's no doubt that Tomas Kaberle will be on the Czech team. He'll be reunited with Pavel Kubina and likely skipper the team despite having no leadership abilities. He is what he is at even strength but where he'll make a real difference for the Czech's entry is on the powerplay. Special teams can make the difference in the tight scoring games that you'll find in the medal rounds.

	GP	G	A	P	+/-	PIM	PPG	SHG	GWG	GTG	SOG	PCT
2009 - Mike Komisarek	24	0	1	1	-7	35	0	0	0	0	22	0.0

Brian Burke is the General Manager of the USA's Olympic team. Ron Wilson is the coach of the team. One signed him to a multi-year, multi-million dollar deal that made him the anchor of his NHL defence. The other leans heavily on him on the penalty kill especially. After a rough start, Komisarek has found the balance between physical play and discipline and is back to the game that made him one of Brian Burke's marquee signings this summer. I don't know that I would pick him for the American team but I do think that he'll get picked.

Had A Shot

	GP	G	A	P	+/-	PIM	PPG	SHG	GWG	GTG	SOG	PCT
2009 - Carl Gunnarsson	8	0	4	4	4	4	0	0	0	0	12	0.0

Poor Carl Gunnarsson. He was on Sweden's pre-Olympic roster (although to be be fair, so was Jonas Frogren as well as almost every Swedish defender ever) and he had a strong showing at last Spring's Worlds. Then he started the year off on the Marlies because his waiver eligibility made him the easiest player to demote. Once he finally got a chance he was a revelation. Of course, he's currently out of the lineup with a hyperextended elbow so any chance he had of making the team has been consistently derailed at every turn.

	GP	G	A	P	+/-	PIM	PPG	SHG	GWG	GTG	SOG	PCT
2009 - Francois Beauchemin	32	3	11	14	-6	13	3	0	0	0	80	3.8

Francois Beauchemin might have been invited to the summer evaluation camp but then he joined the Maple Leafs. The instant loss of elite goaltending, Hall of Fame teammates, and the increased scrutiny all conspired to make Not Durno's transition to Toronto less than successful at first. Since the rocky start he's improved by leaps and bounds and really found a comfort zone but he needed to be absolutely lights out to even get a sniff.

No Dice

This section could also be re-named "Canadian defencemen" because none of the Canucks on the buds' blueline are going to Vancouver in any capacity other than a cheerleader.

	GP	G	A	P	+/-	PIM	PPG	SHG	GWG	GTG	SOG	PCT
2009 - Ian White	32	5	12	17	11	29	1	0	0	0	68	7.4

Ian White might be killing it for the Leafs but his stint at the World Juniors won't count for much. Not to mention that for all of his redeeming qualities "Moustachelence" is probably not high on Steve Yzerman's evaluation rubric.

	GP	G	A	P	+/-	PIM	PPG	SHG	GWG	GTG	SOG	PCT
2009 - Luke Schenn	31	0	4	4	0	33	0	0	0	0	35	0.0

Sigh. Not in 2010 and on this pace not in 2014 or 2018 or...He's regressed mightily after a first season which I think was far more impressive that we had any right to expect or most people like to remember. Luke Schenn outscored Tomas Kaberle at even strength last year while also putting up some good Behind The Net numbers(ie better than Drew Doughty).

	GP	G	A	P	+/-	PIM	PPG	SHG	GWG	GTG	SOG	PCT
2009 - Garnet Exelby	17	0	1	1	-4	19	0	0	0	0	4	0.0

HAHAHAHAHA Yeah, I just put this for the sake of being thorough. Also, I wanted to make a request: can people stop pretending that the Kubina and Stapleton for Exelby and Stuart trade was made in isolation? It's the kind of disingenuous thing that we'd rip the MSM for doing.

	GP	G	A	P	+/-	PIM	PPG	SHG	GWG	GTG	SOG	PCT
2009 - Jeff Finger	16	2	6	8	-7	5	0	0	0	0	13	15.4

I can't say that I really understand Ron Wilson's handling of Jeff Finger this year. In my mind, you put Finger into the lineup over Garnet Exelby 100 times out of 50 but somehow it's only happened 50% of the time. He wasn't an invite to the orientation camp and he never did anything of note.

Leafs at Blue Jackets

Chemmy — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 20:20:05 -0000

Jared Boll gets dusted by Luke Schenn

Puck Drop: 7:00 ET Leafs TV

Fresh off of first shutout of the year we've lost starting goaltender Jonas Gustavsson to another catheter ablation and so Joey MacDonald gets the start. Ordinarily this would be a total disaster but at least Vesa Toskala isn't starting.

The last time we played Columbus was 2/19/2009, the day after Tlusty's five goal game when another one of our prospects Justin Pogge stunk out the joint in the shootout after playing a decent game. What I'm getting at here is that Joey MacDonald is a lot better than Justin Pogge.

If the team plays stifling defense against Columbus like they did against Montreal we have a good shot at picking up a win against a stingy Blue Jackets team who are missing a ton of their own defenders. On the other hand look to Anton Stralman to have a big night against a club he felt didn't give him a big shot to crack the lineup.

Remember your SPG picks, check out The Cannon if you want Columbus' take on tonight's game, and go Leafs go!

Game 28 Preview: The Rarely-Seen Buds Make the Trek to Ohio

Mike MacLean — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 17:32:58 -0000

More photos » by Charles Rex Arbogast - AP

Browse more photos »

They're getting better! The most recent game against the Blackhawks looked more like Jackets hockey than any other game this season, had they played the way they did during the losing streak, the score would have been ugly-very ugly in favor of the 'Hawks.

For the first time in a few years Toronto comes to town. The Leafs are still in the midst of a "re-tooling" (because if I would have said "rebullding" Ole Ironsides Burke would find a way to get me booted off of the internet) and are without either of their top goaltenders. Vesa Toskala is out with an injury, and Gustavsson will be going under the knife for another heart operation. Speaking of Gustavsson, when will the meda give him a new nickname? The Monster? Come on. Worst nickname for a player in all of sport, especially for a rookie. Joey MacDonald, a fellow Bluenoser, will get the start tonight. Mase is in for the Jackets.

The CBJ will be icing the same lineup as the past few games, although Raffi may miss it because his wife is in the hospital prepping for the delivery of the couple's first child. The Leafs have a tough defensive unit, so it will be interesting how the Jackets forwards can cope with that. I also wonder if Kris Russell can continue his red-hot stretch of play tonight. Here's hoping. Look for a good physical battle tonight folks.

Fearless Prediction: CBJ score at least four goals.

Game Time: 7:00pm ET

Opponent's Blog: Pension Plan Puppets

Game Page: Maple Leafs vs Blue Jackets Coverage

TSN Preview: Maple Leafs vs Blue Jackets Preview

TV: FSN Ohio

Radio: WBNS-AM (1460); WWCD-FM (101.1)

More after the jump...

From the Columbus Dispatch:

Toronto has played in Columbus only three times, most recently Nov. 20, 2006, a 4-2 Leafs win. The Blue Jackets would be wise to ignore the standings. After a horrible start, the Maple Leafs are 4-1-2 in their past seven games, including a 3-0 rout of Montreal on Tuesday. It could be a big special- teams game. Although the Blue Jackets excel on the power play, both teams struggle in killing penalties.

Jackets Links:

Columbus Blue Jackets / Columbus Blue Jackets Schedule

Columbus Blue Jackets Roster / Columbus Blue Jackets Stats

Here are the lineups for tonight's tilt:

Columbus Blue Jackets

Kristian Huselius	Antoine Vermette	Rick Nash
R.J. Umberger	Derick Brassard	Jakub Voracek
Jason Chimera	Samuel Pahlsson	Michael Blunden
Raffi Torres	Derek MacKenzie	Jared Boll

Fedor Tyutin	Anton Stralman
Mike Commodore	Jan Hejda
Kris Russell	Mathieu Roy

Steve Mason

Mathieu Garon

EXTRA: Alexandre Picard

INJURED: Fredrik Modin, Andrew Murray, Derek Dorsett, Rostislav Klesla, Marc Methot

Toronto Maple Leafs

Alexei Ponikarovsky	Matt Stajan	Phil Kessel
Niklas Hagman	Mikhail Grabovski	Christian Hanson
Wayne Primeau	Nikolai Kulemin	Lee Stempniak
Jason Blake	Jamal Mayers	Colton Orr

Mike Komisarek	Tomas Kaberle
Luke Schenn	Ian White
Francois Beauchemin	Jeff Finger

Joey MacDonald

Jonas Gustavsson

Maple Leafs 6 v. Panthers 4: Hagman and Kessel Have An Awesome-Off

PPP — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 07:00:13 -0000

LEAFS MAN inspired the Leafs' to victory.
What has Carlton done lately?

The Toronto Maple Leafs overcame an early 2-0 deficit to beat the Florida Panthers 6-4. By early I mean that the Panthers scored two goals in 53 seconds and Jonas Gustavsson looked like he might be in for a short night. Of course, he showed his ability to recover by stoning the Panthers on a breakaway and making a couple of big saves to keep the Leafs down only two. That set the stage for Phil Kessel to begin the Leafs' fightback. First off: don't the Leafs score some pretty goals against the Panthers? Here's Hagman's epic snipe from last year:

And here is Philty Phil Kessel's gorgeous goal. Aside from leaving Keith Ballard red-faced and bare-assed after the undressing I was really impressed with the cool, well-placed finish. Rather than try to hammer a puck home he just slid it through Alexei Ponikarovsky's wonderful screen:

Phil "Marc Savard Me Him" Kessel now has eight goals in 12 games (55 goal pace) and three assists none of which involved Marc Savard. Weird. The best part of that goal was the assist that Luke Schenn got for blocking a shot which bounced to Kessel. That's the third assist a Leaf has gotten off of a Kessel goal by getting him the puck in the Leafs' own zone. The first goal might have started the comeback but the second helped revive a Leafs team that could have been on the verge of folding after a heart-breaking fourth Panthers goal. Good thing he tied things up again 13 seconds later.

Going goal for goal with Phil Kessel is Niklas Hagman. He added two more tonight - one via a Ponikarovsky pass and another on the back of Christian Hanson's excellent forechecking - now has 13 goals in 23 games. Keep in mind that his career high is 27 goals in 82 games which he potted two years ago with Dallas. After a listless two goals and one assist start to the season Hagman has eleven goals and three assists in eighteen games since he was sent to the press box. I wonder if Ron Wilson will get any credit for the improvement?

The third head in this hydra of productive Leafs' forwards was Alexei Ponikarovsky. He added a goal and three assists but his most valuable contribution was showing what happens when forwards go to the net properly. He created a screen on Kessel's goal and then potted his on the powerplay because, instead of standing to the side of the goalie like every other Leafs' forward, he was planted right in front of Tomas Vokoun.

Gustavsson didn't have his best game but he made the big saves when the team needed them (except on the goals). The second on was very weak, the third wasn't helped by the presence of Garnet Exelby in the crease, and the fourth was knocked in my Gustavsson's blocker as he scrambled back after the Leafs' penalty killers allowed a slick cross-box pass. Speaking of penalties, Pierre Champoux was the cause of one so terrible that the ref apologised to Beauchemin after the game.

The Leafs were not able to get a lead until Hagman put them up 5-4 but once they did they did a good job of shutting things down. While they were pressured in their zone a couple of times they did well to prevent any great scoring chances other than a Nathan Horton blast that went over the net.

So as was pointed out, the Leafs are 6-4-6 since their 0-7-1. That's good for 18 points out of 32 available during those 16 games. That's pro-rates out to 92 points over a full season which would put them right where most fans expected them to be: scratching and clawing for the playoffs. They are on an honest-to-goodness winning streak and get a Saturday off to rest up for the upcoming games against the Bruins on Monday before heading out on the road for three tough games in Montreal, Columbus, and Boston.

On a final note: Congratulations to Tomas Kaberle who moved into second spot on the Leafs' all-time defencemen scoring chart with Tim Horton.

Poll

Who was the player of the game?

Niklas Hagman - 2 goals, +1

39 votes

Phil Kessel - 2 goals, +2

129 votes

Alexei Ponikarovsky - 1 goal, 3 assists, +3

70 votes

238 votes | Poll has closed

Your Toronto Maple Leafs: How Did We Get Here?

mf37 — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 16:32:36 -0000

An anonymous comment over at my blog Bitter Leaf Fan raised the question of how exactly the Leafs arrived in their current mess.

There’s not a single cause or easy explantion.

This franchise has gone through three, maybe even four, different phases since 2000, however; with the exception of one small window, all of these phases have focused on the short-term, sacrificing picks and prospects for a supposed fix.

After the jump, a look at the Leafs' propensity to deal away the future and the pile of pocket lint, loose change and used gum wrappers they got in return.

Pre-Lockout

The Pat Quinn teams of the early 2000s were powerful clubs. Each made the playoffs and several flirted with 100 point seasons. They combined a nice mix of talent and flair (Sundin, Mogilny) with grit (Roberts, Tucker) and solid goaltending (Cujo, Belfour).

These teams were often legitimate threats to go deep in the post season and on more than one occasion it was widely thought they could challenge for a cup. As a result, these teams made a number of trades where the future was sacrificed for the present. There was a small window of success and the Leafs went for it, selling off the future in the hopes of a big pay-day.

In 2003, the Leafs trade Brad Boyes (2000 1st round pick), Alyn McCauley and a 1st round pick for Owen Nolan

In 2004, the Leafs trade two prospects, a 1st and 2nd round pick for Brian Leetch.

In addition to dealing away those three first round picks, the Leafs also had some bad luck when their 1999 first round selection (and WJC 1st team all-star) Luca Cereda had to hang up his skates due to health complications with his heart.

From 1999 to 2004, the Leafs emerged with just two first round draft picks: Carlo Colaiacovo and Alexander Steen. Both would later be traded to St. Louis for Lee Stempniak.

The Missing Years

John Ferguson Junior’s tenure was like a ship lost at sea…or maybe it was a ship that kept running into ice bergs…or a lost ship, on fire, that kept hitting ice bergs. Choose your own nautical disaster metaphor and, in keeping with JFJ’s reign of error, the more apocalyptic and dire your selection the more accurate it will be.

Ferguson was GM from the 2004 to 2007 drafts.

Out of those five drafts, he managed to hold on to his first round pick in just once – giving the franchise Jiri Tlusty and a whole lotta NSFW jokes.

Unable to shake-off the "win now!" edict from the MLSE board, in just two years Ferguson sacrificed two first, a second and a fourth round pick in an effort to shore-up the team’s goaltending. Some four years later, goaltending remains a position of weakness that hasn’t been adequately addressed.

JFJ's draft day magic:

The 2005 first round pick (Tukka Rask) dealt for Andrew Raycroft.
The 2006 first round pick was Jiri Tlusty.
The 2007 first round and second round picks (along with a 2009 4th) to San Jose for Vesa Toskala.
The 2008 second round pick to Phoenix for Yannic Perreault.

Draft Schmaft Redux?

In 2008, Cliff Fletcher was brought in to try to move out the NTCs/NMCs on the club and start the, ahem, rebuilding process.

Given the need to get more talent into the system, he made some, shall we say, curious moves:

A swap of first round picks, 2008 3rd round pick, 2009 2nd round pick for Luke Schenn
2008 3rd round pick for Jamal Mayers
2008 4th round pick to get rid of Bryan McCabe
2008 5th round pick for Ryan Hollwegg
2010 2nd round pick for Mikhail Grabovski

In fairness to Fletcher, he also acquired a small parcel of picks:

2008 2nd round pick and a 2009 5th round pick for Hal Gill
2008 3rd round pick for Chad Kilger
2008 5th round pick for Wade Belak

An Eye for Talent? Um. Not really...

If you’re going to trade away picks and prospects, the returning players better pan out.

Clearly that has not been the case for the Leafs.

By my math, the Leafs traded five first round and three second round picks for the following return:

69 games from Owen Nolan.
28 games of Brian Leetch.
91 games (and 268 goals against) of Andrew Raycroft (plus a multi-year buyout)
17 games of Yanic Perreault
127 games (and counting) from Vesa Toskala

Stop and marvel at that return.

Five first and three third round picks for 332 games played (plus Toskala's starts until the end of the season).

I'll spare the Leaf defenders from doing the math - Brad Boyes, one of the former first rounders traded away, has played 347 NHL games, 15 more than this motley collection managed for the Leafs.

What's worse is that every single one of these players left the Leafs without a single asset coming back in return.

I'll wait while you drink it all in.

I don’t know about you, but I don't think there’s an adjective that can adequately summarize this. One could argue that only Bernie Madoff has done a worse job of asset management - and even that might be a stretch.

Making Mistakes Beyond the Draft

Even more painfully, that poor return only reflects the draft side of the equation.

The Leafs have not excelled in the free agency department (Blake, Finger), have made poor decisions in awarding NMCs and NTCs, and have made a series of poor decisions on talent retention – signing McCabe, Tucker and others to long-term deals rather than trading them at peak value. But I’ll save that rant/analysis for another day…

For now, in a nutshell, this is a good first step toward building a franchise that’s on target for a 50 point season and has limited options at hand.