...then to talk about Brian Burke's big blunder?
It's not so much the fact that the Toronto Maple Leafs are the worst team in the league, they were pretty close to the worst team last year. It's more the fact that they're waiting on Phil Kessel to be their savior, as if one player can turn around the whole team, just ask the New York Islanders how that's worked out thusfar.
Sure, Kessel will score them a lot of goals, he always does. But this Maple Leafs team is SO fundamentally flawed that I don't think having a guy like Kessel can help much, if at all.
The Leafs spent their night, in Toronto against what could very well be the hottest team in the league right now, the New York Rangers. A lot of people, myself included doubted how sound of a move it was by Rangers' GM Glenn Sather to sign an injury prone Marian Gaborik, and I must say, I'm now a believer in the decision.
The Rangers absolutely romped the last place Maple Leafs earlier in the week, in a 7-2 victory which saw the Leafs do every possible thing to set themselves back. Mike Komisarek has become nothing but a huge minus player since joining the team, or maybe he was on the Habs just the great players around him lessened that effect. Tonight the Leafs looked a bit better than they did last time they played the Rangers, but not much.
By better I mean Joey MacDonald, of all people, played better than Vesa Toskala did earlier this week. The rest of the team was still utterly abysmal. Not to undersell the Rangers though, they've proved to have a potent offense this year, and it's not just coming from Gaborik. Brandon Dubinsky has been one of the most consistent producers for the team, which is a mixed bag of youth and veterans. Dubinsky added a goal and assist tonight, ending up being a +2 on the night and one of the best players of this young season. He shows poise on both sides of the puck, unlike many of the "star" talent Burke signed in the off season. Sure, Phil Kessel is a great player, and he is an elite scorer, but the Maple Leafs are one of the worst defensive teams in the league, period. They've made the Capitals look like a trap team, but whereas the Capitals aren't the most solid defensive team ever, it's because they're taking chances at the other end of the ice and scoring goals. The Leafs do neither of which very well, and I have a hard time believing it'll all change once Kessel is in the line up.
What's most frightening about all of this, is from game to game, the Maple Leafs aren't doing anything spectacularly. Aside from playing bad hockey, of course. Alex Ponikarovsky is one of two plus players on the whole team, with a somewhat shocking +5, how you can be a plus player on a team that hasn't won a game yet is beyond me. The other plus is Ian White, who is currently a +3. I have November 23rd penciled in as the date that either the Islanders or Maple Leafs will win their first game this year, I happen to lean more towards the Islanders at this point, though. At least the Islanders have put up a fight for the most part, in their home opener they gave the Pittsburgh Penguins a run for their money, the Maple Leafs on the other hand, not so much.
The whole point of this rambling post is probably just to say, bottom line, in the salary cap era, if you don't spend your money wisely, you won't win. Here's to you, Brian Burke, I'd say you would get the number one overall draft pick next year, but you don't have any first round picks.
