How have the Leafs made out this off-season?

[Rick C.]

The Toronto Star takes a look league-wide, but here's what is said about the Leafs:

GM Brian Burke ? perhaps with his job on the line ? showed incredible patience with a team he says he believes in. The acquisition of James van Riemsdyk pumps up the top 6 at the cost of Luke Schenn, easily replaced by Korbinian Holzer. Playing a waiting game on Roberto Luongo. Jay McLement helps the penalty kill unit. Couldn?t possibly hurt it.

 

[Kin]

Here's another take, SI's Allan Muir grades all 30 teams off season.

The East

The West

He gives the Leafs a D.

Personally I think the issue is what sort of curve we're grading on here. If we're trying to assess what sort of talent Burke brought in relative to the other clubs then the poor grade from SI is probably merited. If we're instead trying to assess Burke's work as part of how it fits into the nebulous whole then there's obviously a lot more room for debate.

I'd probably come down on the side that's more immediate. I don't see the team as substantially improved since the end of the season and several big questions remain.

 

[Rick C.]

I'd probably come down on the side that's more immediate. I don't see the team as substantially improved since the end of the season and several big questions remain.

Yeah.  Not sure that there was that much out there.  If Luongo came, does that change it all in these two ratings pieces?

 

[showmethemoneyman]

I don't see how we are marked a D
Any player signed  is a player lost by another team , if one team has improved  another has therefore regressed
We lost nobody to retirement
We have added JVR ,  McClement  and Komarov ; potentially Kostka and Ranger
  lost Schenn and Crabb and gustavsson.
our biggest signing was a better coach , with a more defence first system.
That is an improvement so we must be at least a C+
We can't go out and sign a bunch of free agents as we have 4 or 5 Marlies probably NHL ready
in Scrivens Frattin Holzer Kadri Colborne Fraser and Ashton.
I for one am not so concerned about our 1C position.
While Bozak's numbers weren't overwhelming . both Kessel and Lupul had career years , near the top of the scoring ladder, the C on that line couldn't be that bad !
Competition breeds success , let us see who wins out amongst Bozak , Kadri , Connolly , JVR ,  a healthy again Lombardi and a healthy again Colborne
I think we are going to pull an Ottawa  Sens  and surprise people that we  make the playoffs

 

[Tigger]

When your need is a number one centre and a number one goalie, well, the grade is going to be hit or miss and so far it's a miss. This seems like a pretty bad year to make deals and acquire talent though, fwiw, weak free agent year ( again ) and cba uncertainty has probably had an impact.

I like that deals haven't been made seemingly in panic though and that a true top pk'ing forward was addressed.

If this is an 'offseason' only grade I guess I can see why getting a new coach wasn't part of the grading but I think it makes a difference overall.

 

[caver]

Burke may be saving his moves until he sees what the CBA looks like. That could turn out to be a good strategy.

 

[Kin]

I don't see how we are marked a D
Any player signed  is a player lost by another team , if one team has improved  another has therefore regressed

That only really follows if you forget two things that are pretty important. One, rosters spots are finite. Two, the talent pool isn't.

As a hypothetical, a team could let a player go to free agency but plan to fill his spot with a prospect. The team that signs the the player would improve but so long as the prospect is as good as the departed player nobody regresses.

Add in players signed as free agents from outside of the NHL and there are lots of ways to add talent to a team that doesn't weaken another.

We lost nobody to retirement
We have added JVR ,  McClement  and Komarov ; potentially Kostka and Ranger
  lost Schenn and Crabb and gustavsson.

As I mentioned above, one of the things to keep in mind is that roster spots are finite. The Leafs right now have 14 forwards on the books and that's not including Colborne, Kadri, Ashton and Komarov. The team obviously can't carry 18 guys up front so to pare that down to the 14-15 that will make the team and 12 that will dress most nights you're bumping a bunch of guys out of the line-up. A player like McClement or Komarov are only additions if they're markedly better than the guys whose spots they're taking and the guys who might otherwise get their PT.

So even if a guy like Komarov makes the team, which at this point strikes me as a little unlikely, he's probably going to play abunch of games in place of someone like Brown or Lombardi. It's hard to call that a net positive just yet.

our biggest signing was a better coach , with a more defence first system.
That is an improvement so we must be at least a C+

Coaching changes are really the sort of thing that have to play out before you can grade them. A lot of people though Wilson would be a big upgrade on Maurice and that didn't work terribly well.

 

[Damian]

We dont have any ridiculous 10 year "stupidfest" contracts, so I'd say we are ok

 

[maplesyrup]

Yeah, we really didn't do anything risky so much depends on how you view that...  and no, I don't classify the Schenn/JVR deal as all that "risky."   

 

[moon111]

Burke may be saving his moves until he sees what the CBA looks like. That could turn out to be a good strategy.

I agree.  The Leaf's cap hit for the next three years is: $62,873,333, $40,903,333, and $13,625,000.
Pretty soon they'll be able to bring up guys they've developed and have cap room to sign unrestricted free agents.
If the cap goes down, it might squeeze some teams in making deals they don't like.

 

[#1PilarFan]

What bothers me the most about Burke is he said he thought it was highly unlikely that this would be the team he ices on opening night. That means he sees the same deficiencies that we see.

And yet, despite these holes, he has done very little, if anything, to improve the roster. That's not good.

 

[skrackle]

I see the Leafs as a bottom feeder team for at least this season (which will eventually start-don't worry) and quite possibly 2013-14.

I don't see this as an entirely bad thing. The worst part is, winning hockey won't be established on the NHL team-not yet. But team identity? That can start now. That's Randy Carlyle's immediate task.

The good part is, young prospects possibly of elite potential, should continue to arrive in the Leafs system over the next few years.

Maybe this new CBA will benefit a league powerhouse, as the Leafs are. I mean, if ever a team deserved a bone or two thrown their way based on financial credibility...if it's not the Leafs, I don't know who it would be. Whatever the outcome of the CBA, the Leafs should be well positioned to function within the cap.

Long story short, I'm prepared for two more years of hockey pain. After that, I think things are going to get much better for the Leafs.

 

[Strangelove]

Being forced to watch another year of Tyler Bozak getting pushed off the puck in the top six is worth an F rating in itself.

The bottom line in summarizing Burke's tenure is that the Leafs are no closer to being contenders than they were when he started.  They were missing top-flight players and bonafide impact prospects then and--for the most part--that remains to be the case.  Substitute 2008 Schenn for 2012 Rielly in terms of projected NHL success and here we are.  The only silver linnig this offseason, I guess, is that Burke hasn't made any rotten free agent signings as of yet.  So there's that.

Looking forward to more "first round draft pink equivalent" US college players this fall and winter.

 

[ZBBM]

Being forced to watch another year of Tyler Bozak getting pushed off the puck in the top six is worth an F rating in itself.

The bottom line in summarizing Burke's tenure is that the Leafs are no closer to being contenders than they were when he started.  They were missing top-flight players and bonafide impact prospects then and--for the most part--that remains to be the case.  Substitute 2008 Schenn for 2012 Rielly in terms of projected NHL success and here we are.  The only silver linnig this offseason, I guess, is that Burke hasn't made any rotten free agent signings as of yet.  So there's that.

Looking forward to more "first round draft pink equivalent" US college players this fall and winter.

You saved me the trouble of typing all this out. Agree one hundred percent.

 

[Corn Flake]

Burke may be saving his moves until he sees what the CBA looks like. That could turn out to be a good strategy.

I think that has to be a big part of it, or at least causing even more drag on what has been a slow'ish summer. 

It's funny because about a month ago Dave Poulin was interviewed and was adamant that they were not finished making moves. I'm sure the interview is still on the Leafs website.  While I have found the summer frustrating and a bit disappointing as well, I still hold out some hope that what he said is true and at least one significant move is going to drop before the season starts.

 

[caver]

There still could be changes before "opening night" and the way talks are going it could be quite some time before "opening night" gets here!

 

[Damian]

There still could be changes before "opening night" and the way talks are going it could be quite some time before "opening night" gets here!

Like what? We ice the Marlies wearing the Leafs jerseys instead? Win-Win!

 

[Corn Flake]

There still could be changes before "opening night" and the way talks are going it could be quite some time before "opening night" gets here!

It could be for sure, but I honestly don't think we will be waiting more than an extra month for opening night... but that's just me.

I keep thinking about the Luongo trade that hasn't dropped yet is still quite possible and the cap changes could certainly impact that.  The fact Scrivens hasn't signed yet makes me wonder.. if Burke was truly confident in a Reimer/Scrivens duo he would have both locked up long ago.  The fact that the Canucks have 4 goalies under contract that all seem to be assumed NHL bound makes me wonder. etc etc.

So many implications when the CBA drops for the Leafs and for other teams.  The only teams who have been busy giving out piles of money the past month are the Oilers and Flyers.  I think the rest have all been pretty dormant. 

 

[OldTimeHockey]

What bothers me the most about Burke is he said he thought it was highly unlikely that this would be the team he ices on opening night. That means he sees the same deficiencies that we see.

And yet, despite these holes, he has done very little, if anything, to improve the roster. That's not good.

This isn't NHL '96. You can't just trade Jamie Macoun for Pavel Bure and instantly make your team better.

 

[BlueWhiteBlood]

This isn't NHL '96. You can't just trade Jamie Macoun for Pavel Bure and instantly make your team better.

Bummer!