Draft Blows Leafs In New Direction

The NHL Entry Draft (or what I like to call The Second Trade Deadline) is done for 2008 and this year marks the first in recent memory that the Toronto Maple Leafs actually used a first round pick for something other than procuring the temporary use of a post-prime big-named player. For those of you who follow the Leafs, the name Owen Nolan probably comes to mind at this moment...you may remember the price being Brad Boyes, Alyn McCauley, and their 1st round pick in 2003 - a draft that boasted names such as Marc-Andre Fleury, Eric Staal, Dion Phaneuf, and Ryan Getzlaf. In fact, even though the Leafs would've picked 21st, the draft was so deep that Mike Richards, Corey Perry and Patrice Bergeron were still available. I'll let you decide whether that was a good trade or not.

This year, GM Cliff Fletcher was bound and determined to overhaul the Leafs' roster and usher in a major rebuilding era for the Buds....so where's the most logical place to start? Why, you trade one of your draft picks to bring in Jamal Mayers, that's where! I don't really have a problem with a guy like Jamal. If he's good enough to play for Team Canada, he's most likely good enough for the Leafs. He's a character/role player who adds some toughness to the team. My belief is that he was brought in to open the door for a Darcy Tucker buyout. They're similar players, although Tucker has shown more of a scoring touch in recent years, but Mayers comes at a 60% diiscount to Tucker's $3 Mil contract.

Then on Draft Day, Fletcher made a swap in which he gave up a first, second and third round pick in order to move up two spots to pick a stay-at-home defenseman by the name of Luke Schenn fifth overall. I support this pick completely, as it seems the Blue and White have been sorely lacking some defensive prowess for a long time. Name just about any blueliner that played for the Leafs this year, and he probably leans to the offensive side of the game. Well, there's Andy Wozniewski, but he doesn't really lean either way. Kaberle, Kubina, Colaiacovo, White, McCabe, Stralman...all offensive minded. Sure, it'd be nice to have a Dion Phaneuf-type who can excel at both ends of the rink, but I'll refer you to the previous lack of first-rounders in Toronto's stable.

Also during the Draft, it was announced that the Leafs had given permission to the Montreal Canadiens to speak to Mats Sundin about luring him away from Toronto. My first thought was, "Why would Mats refuse a trade to a Cup Contender during the season just to jump ship as a free agent?" This doesn't make sense to me at all. If Sundin does in fact sign with the Habs, or even with the Rangers as was reported later, he would be making a strong case to Webster's for adding his picture next to "hypocrite". Turning down a chance to win a Stanley Cup out of loyalty to your team is honorable. Leaving the team a few months later is downright mind-boggling. It'll be interesting to see how this plays out. Good for Fletcher to at least secure a little bit of return should Sundin bolt to the Habs.

Next on the agenda was cleaning out some contracts. The young-boy-trapped-in-an-octogenarian-body Kyle Wellwood and Andrew Raycroft were placed on waivers. I can understand Raycroft being expendable, as he saw very little action behind Vesa Toskala, and that position would be better suited for Scott Clemmenson, Justin Pogge or Tuuka Rask (oops, another first-rounder given away, my bad). I don't believe Raycroft is as bad as his latest outing would suggest, but I don't think he was in a position to show his abilities and grow as a goaltender while sitting under the spotlight in the ACC. Young goaltenders need time and a little bit of leeway to make some mistakes and learn from them in order to become a bonafide starter in the NHL. Leafs fans probably don't know this, as they have gotten used to the CuJo's and the Grant Fuhr's and the Ed Belfour's that have guarded the twine for decades. Case in point: Felix Potvin. He was stellar for a few years, garnered a cool nickname, and helped the team to a couple deep playoff runs. He lets in a bad goal to the Vancouver Canucks in the Conference Finals and he gets run out of town. He was never the same again. Now it looks like Leafs fans are having the same effect on Raycroft.

 Back to the waivers. Before Wellwood could clear and be sent to the minors where he could be kept safe until he became a grown man who could handle the grueling environment of the NHL, he was plucked by those pesky Canucks. Why can't they just leave us alone? I think this may have been a bad move on the part of Cliff Fletcher, as Wellwood - when healthy - has proven to be a legitimate offensive threat. It's just too bad the kid is becoming the next Martin Havlat (don't get me started on him). Kyle suffers a groin injury, he blames it on poor conditioning. Then he's actually working out, and he breaks his foot. He can't win. Maybe 'Mr. Glass' should start drinking more milk. I wish him the best in Vancouver and hope that he proves Fletch wrong and gives Leaf Nation one more thing to be disgruntled about.

It's what we do.