New Season, Same Team

New Season, Same Team

Justin Dahan (HV)

Has anything really changed for this years Toronto Maple Leafs team? With the acquisition of Jason Blake and Vesa Toskala the Leafs have new players but the team still remains the same.

First let us take a look at the acquisition of Jason Blake. On paper Blake looks like a tremendous signing, he had a career high in goals with 44. The problem with Blake is his style; he plays a gritty in your face type game. Similar to Leafs forward Darcy Tucker. Is there really room for two players who play the same game? Tucker, who also had a career year last season, he was awarded a big contract after last season; he will make 3 million per year until 2011. Blake will make an average of 4 million until 2012 (Although with his top heavy contract he will make 5 million this year).

It’s only three games into the NHL season and both Blake and Tucker have yet to produce any real offense. In the first two games of the season Blake seemed to have his first goal as a Leaf until it was called off for goaltender interference. During the first two games Tucker didn’t seem to play like himself because he had been knocked off the team’s top line and did not get as much power play time. During the third game of the season, against the Montreal Canadiens, the roles seemed to switch. For failing to produce, Blake was knocked off the top line as Sundin was reunited with Alexei Ponikarovsky and Nik Antropov. Tucker was able to play a little more on the Leafs struggling power play (1-18 with their one power play goal coming in last night’s overtime period) and still failed to produce but he played his style more and looked more comfortable on the ice.

It’s almost as if only one of them can play well at a time. If that’s the case how do you think it will look when one of the Leafs top moneymakers isn’t producing as expected? I doubt it will reflect well upon GM John Ferguson Jr. but on the bright side at least they didn’t give up draft picks or prospects for this acquisition.

Now lets move on to Vesa Toskala. It’s hard to make a case against Toskala who despite struggling in preseason has looked good for the Leafs in the two games he’s played so far; especially after the Montreal win. Leafs star defenseman Thomas Kaberle, who scored the overtime winning goal against Montreal, said this about newly acquired Toskala, “Vesa was big for us”. Toskala kept Toronto in the game against the Canadiens; he was a key component to two late Leaf penalty kills, one late in the third and one in overtime.

The problem with the Toskala trade is not Toskala; it’s the other parts of the deal. In obtaining Toskala they also had to take on troubled winger Mark Bell who is already suspended due to his alcohol abuse and a DUI last year. They also gave up a first and second round pick in the 2007 draft. With the Leafs first round pick, the San Jose Sharks picked Lars Eller 13th overall but the Leafs could have picked from a deep well of prospects that early in the draft. They could’ve had Alexei Cherepanov who many considered to be the top player in the draft or Angelo Esposito who was the top rated player for the 2007 draft in 2006.

The fact is that the Leafs will be struggling to make the playoffs this year and they have a top goalie prospect in Justin Pogge. They should not have traded for Toskala; they should be stockpiling their prospects for the future. The moves they are making may save them face now but all they are doing is ensuring more years of mediocrity, as they sell out their prospects, they should be concentrating on building a winner