Season Review: Toronto Maple Leafs

Well, now that people are talking playoffs, I will be reviewing the seasons of teams as they're either eliminated from the playoffs or eliminated from playoff contention before the end of the season. Obviously, the last team reviewed will be the one that wins the Cup.

Now the third team to be eliminated from playoff contention: The Toronto Maple Leafs.

Season expectations: The team was expected to be challenged because this was the first full season under the command of GM Brian Burke. There were rumors abound saying that there were going to be trades (most of them involving Tomas Kaberle). There was inconsistency with the scoring forwards, the defense was raw, and the goaltending hinged between injury and inexperience. Frankly, only a Toronto-obsessed optimist would have picked these guys to go into the playoffs.

My prediction: I figured they were going to be fourth in the division and tenth in the conference. In retrospect, I think I thought too highly of them.

The truth: They're the first team from the Eastern Conference to be eliminated from playoff contention. To be fair, if the Eastern Conference were better as a whole, these guys would have been eliminated a long time ago.

What went wrong?: You mean besides Jeff Finger being signed to a contract with a $3.5M annual cap hit for the next two seasons?

Simply stated, Murphy's Law. Should I elaborate? How about this: Everything that could have gone down during a rebuild year did, but that doesn't mean all's wrong, either.

Injuries were a significant issue for the team this season. Mikhail Grabovski missed 25 games with a broken wrist and you know he had to have played hurt through part of that. There wasn't much to work with in terms of Toronto scoring so it hurt when he was gone. Mike Komisarek scored a great deal in the off-season but ended up being hurt for most of the season, which is unfortunate because he hits everything that moves. Vesa Toskala's injuries (okay, and inconsistent play... we'll get to that later) made him expendable to the Anaheim Ducks for J.S. Giguere. Oh, and remember Mike Van Ryn? Yeah, he didn't play the entire season and would have given the blueline some points they lost when Pavel Kubina went to the Atlanta Thrashers.

However, the guys in the locker room knew it was a rebuild year and when that happens, it's difficult as hell to win. Vesa Toskala wasn't the goaltender the Leafs expected him to be and as a result, Jonas Gustavsson was thrust into battle perhaps a few times to often (though in retrospect, this should only help him become a better goaltender for next season.) Yet Alexei Ponikarovsky and Niklas Hagman performed admirably for the team, and those guys were traded to prepare for Toronto's future (okay, Hagman was moved to get Dion Phaneuf and that's ultimately good for the team... we'll get to that later.) And even if you were the new guy, it doesn't mean that you were going to be excellent during the season; with Phaneuf and Giguere having solid yet unspectacular half-seasons in a new sweater. In the end, until there's a season where e-v-e-r-y-o-n-e in the locker room can have beers together for 82 games or damn close to it, it's hard to get the right chemistry among players.

The oddest part is that this team is run and coached by the two men who brought a Silver Medal to the U.S.A. for the 2010 Olympics when many figured it would belong to either Sweden or Russia. You see what Lee Stempniak is doing for the Phoenix Coyotes now that he's out of Toronto and you're just like "The... hell?!" You see the infamous bag skate that took place and the subsequent losing streak that took place and think "Dude... What?" But yeah, these guys went to the Olympics and did well in an effort to show Toronto fans... patience.

So what's next?: The future and the truth is that isn't not too shabby.

If the team can properly fortify this current group during the off-season, then the team will have a legitimate blend of youth and experience to restore them back to respectability. Up front, the team will have to re-sign Nikolai Kulemin, who's having a breakout season, but with a core of Kessel, Grabovski, Tyler Bozak, and Luca Caputi, the team has a solid group of young and talented scoring forwards. The bottom-six sas John Mitchell, Fredrik Sjostrom and Colton Orr for next season and are good guys to have committed to those roles. I think Rickard Wallin, Wayne Primeau, and Christian Hanson should be re-signed and they can round it out accordingly with either a good signing or a prospect.

The defense and goaltending on this team is what looks the most promising. The team still has Phaneuf, Komisarek, Luke Schenn, Francois Beauchemin, and Carl Gunnarsson on their blue line for next season. Though it may seem redundant with Komisarek's presence, I'd like to see Garnet Exelby agree to less money to remain a Maple Leaf. The team could go with Finger as the seventh d-man, but I have a strong feeling his contract will be "banished" to either Europe or the American Hockey League (trust me, the Maple Leafs can afford it.) The goaltending is all set, and once goaltending coach Francois Allaire has his hands on Giguere for an entire season season, then not only will Giguere better rhythm but Gustavsson will have the mentor he needs to take the next step forward in his development.

I figure these guys will improve sooner than later and a really great off-season will have the Leafs back to the playoffs faster than most people figure. For now though, the guys on the ice need to prepare for next season while the guys behind the bench and in the office figure out the best plans and tools for the next season.

This Just In....

The Phoenix Coyotes get 100 points and clinch their first playoff spot in 8 seasons...

... that is all, and it sure beats the last time I made a special bulletin for the Coyotes!

That is all!

Season Review: Columbus Blue Jackets

Well, now that people are talking playoffs, I will be reviewing the seasons of teams as they're either eliminated from the playoffs or eliminated from playoff contention before the end of the season. Obviously, the last team reviewed will be the one that wins the Cup.

Now the second team to be eliminated from playoff contention: The Columbus Blue Jackets.

Season expectations: The team was coming off of their first playoff appearance in franchise history. The team had a strong emerging goaltender, their star forward finally having the right complements, and a coaching system they could believe in. Sure the Central Division was tough but holy hell these guys were able to be better than both the St. Louis Blues and the Nashville Predators last season and with Detroit having injuries out of the gate, these guys could challenge for one of the best spots in the division and probably at least a playoff spot... right?

My prediction: I figured the Blue Jackets would have finished third in their division and 7th in the Western Conference.

The truth: The Blue Jackets were officially eliminated from playoff contention this evening as a result of the Detroit Red Wings' victory over the Minnesota Wild. They were the second team eliminated from playoff contention in both the conference and the league.

What went wrong?: You mean besides their month of December, when they went 2-9-5?

While injuries were a problem for the Blue Jackets, all signs indicate that Ken Hitchcock lost the room with his style of coaching. This especially held true once prized prospect Nikita Filatov decided to spend the season in Russia because he and Hitchcock couldn't get along. Once it became apparent that the team wasn't going to respond to his game plans any longer, the team designated assistant coach Claude Noel to be their interim head coach. The team responded fairly well under him, at least playing at a .500 level of respectability or better, but injuries and inconsistent play from the young guys proved to be too much to overcome once the December death spiral occurred.

Another factor in the collapse of their season was the "sophomore slump" experienced by both Steve Mason and Derrick Brassard. In Mason's case, he went from winning the Calder Trophy last season for Best Rookie to having a save percentage that's sub .900 and a goals against average that's above 3. In Brassard's case, he's had a respectable season with putting up 33 points in 71 games, but he put up 25 points in 31 games for the team last season, and watched his plus/minus drop from +12 to -16. Sure, playing on a subpar team has that effect, but when it gets to double digits, the player has to assume some responsibility.

While the team's top-six did admirably (five of them got over 46 points over the season with Antoine Vermette and Nash earning 60 points or better), their defense was not entirely up to task. While Anton Stralman and Kris Russell had excellent seasons for the team, both of them shouldn't have been the two that pushed to lead the defense in scoring, largely because of their inexperience. No one else aside from Fedor Tyutin was capable to providing any defensive scoring for the team. Considering how crucial that is for success, that's definitely something that contributed to their downfall.

So what's next?: The team will get a lottery pick for one of the top three at this point. I don't think they're too far removed from heading back into the post-season for next year, though, and think they could look at the situation for Los Angeles and take inspiration from it. If they can find a way to have the same score-by-committee mindset with attention to defensive detail, then a better season from Mason could put them back into a respectable place.

Season Review: Edmonton Oilers

Well, now that people are talking playoffs, I will be reviewing the seasons of teams as they're either eliminated from the playoffs or eliminated from playoff contention before the end of the season. Obviously, the last team reviewed will be the one that wins the Cup.

Now the first team to be eliminated from playoff contention: The Edmonton Oilers.

Season expectations: After making the Stanley Cup Finals in 2006, the Oilers have failed to qualify for the post-season for every season thereafter. Former coach Craig MacTavish was fired and former G.M. Kevin Lowe, whose embarrassingly terrible skills as a G.M. had a lot to do with the current situation for the Oilers, was somehow promoted, yes... promoted, to a senior position while Steve Tambellini took over as the G.M. Pat Quinn was brought in to coach the squad after being inactive as a head coach in the NHL since... well, the last time the Oilers appeared in the playoffs. While the team didn't make a plethora of moves in the off-season, they did land goaltender Nikolai Khabibulin to go and take over as the starting goaltender for the team.

My prediction: I figured the Oilers would have finished fourth in their division and 12th in the Western Conference.

The truth: Unless a pandemic causes teams seeded 8-14 to forfeit the season, the Oilers will finish in the basement of the conference.

What went wrong?: You mean besides... well, everything?

A plethora of injuries and no proper action to correct it.

First Nikolai Khabibulin goes out with a "sore back" that eventually requires surgery (but doesn't stop his ability to get hammered, as he is currently facing charges in Scottsdale, AZ for extreme DUI.) This catapults Jeff Deslauriers from being the third goaltender last season to being the starter. He had some brilliant nights, but as the injuries became an issue, he couldn't keep the team up to task. Now, since then, both Manny Legace and Michael Leighton were very much available on waivers, but the team didn't make any moves and now have given rookie goaltender Devan Dubynk the honor or appearing in nine games without a solitary win.

Not even a week later, first-line forward Ales Hemsky goes down with a shoulder injury that required season ending surgery. With all due respect to Dustin Penner (who after seasons of scrutiny became something of a go-to guy on the team once injuries took place), Hemsky is the most talented forward on that squad and with no proper top-six forward to be traded for, left the team to lean on players who just don't have that kinda scoring potential. Patrick O'Sullivan would be an excellent option if he didn't have an absolutely nauseating -32 at the time that I write this.

On the blue line, the team was going to rely on shipping Sheldon Souray out to a contending team in the southwest in exchange for some players and prospects... until Souray broke his hand in a fight. This left the team to ship out Lubomir Visnovsky to the Anaheim Ducks for Ryan Whitney but didn't do much else to fortify the group other than to make a move for the future in acquiring Aaron Johnson at the deadline for Steve Staios. Come to think of it, the ineffectiveness of both Staios and Denis Grebeshkov is essentially what made them expendable for futures.

With the team having 8 injured players, 5 of which on IR, you'd think the team would have done something sooner. Nevertheless, in hockey-mad Canada, teams can tank for a season under the guise of "rebuilding", which is exactly what it seems like the team did this season.

So what's next?: The good news, if any, is that they're very much in the sweepstakes for Tyler Seguin and Taylor Hall come draft day. One of those players will very much likely be an impact player for the NHL team that drafts him (see: John Tavares, Victor Hedman, and Matt Duschene.) However, the team's got a lot of RFA's to strike deals with (or let walk) and considering that most of them will be asking for raises, they're not likely to have cap room without letting a few players go (though, this could change if the Oilers look to have Khabibulin's contract voided due to his legal issues in Arizona.) It'll be interesting to see if they can have the same type of turnaround the Colorado Avalanche did, but methinks it's going to take another season or two before they're back to being competitive.