Sticking to the Plan
A month into the offseason, one thing can be said for sure about the steps the Toronto Maple Leafs have taken toward rebuilding the team: credit Brian Burke with having a plan, and sticking to it.
The beginnings of that plan are clearly reflected in the sweeping changes to the goaltending and defence corps this summer, as well as a noticeable infusion of truculence.
Speaking to the National Post, Burke elaborated on his philosophy:
“I built all my teams from the net out and blue line out. That’s no secret. Unless your defence can outperform the other team’s defence, you can’t win. And also, the simplest thing to righting a leaky ship in the NHL is reducing the number of pucks that go into your own net.”
That, in essence, is the basis of Burke’s plan for building a team: focus on the goaltending and defence, and then worry about the players up front. In his eyes, preventing goals is more of a key to winning than scoring them. If last year’s team — which ranked a very respectable 10th out of 30 teams for goals scored — is any indication, his theory on what it takes to win is right on the money.
The Plan In Action
Goaltending
In: Jonas Gustavsson
Out: Curtis Joseph
Arguably the team’s biggest concern last season was inconsistent goaltending. The team was in the middle of the pack (ranked 17th in the league) with 30.3 shots against per game, yet allowed a league-worst 3.49 goals against per game. Starting netminder Vesa Toskala, who entered the season with high expectations, often looked like his glove was made of swiss cheese. When he was finally shut down due to injury near the end of the season, speculation was his hip, groin, and shoulder were looking like swiss cheese also, a major contributing factor to his struggles.
Said Burke:
“When I took Vesa on publicly as far as his work habits, he was very angry and felt that it was unfair because he had medical issues and obviously it was born out that he was right … we’re confident that Vesa, having been surgically repaired, can be the guy here. But, it’s my job to add assets that push guys whether they like it or not.” (NHL.com)
Enter the competition: Jonas “The Monster” Gustavsson. While it is difficult to predict how successfully he will adapt to the NHL, the young Swedish free agent has put up outstanding numbers in the Swedish Elitserien, especially in the playoffs. To expect him to take over the starter’s role right away would be unrealistic; however, expectations are that he will provide a necessary push to both Toskala and young netminder Justin Pogge.
Says coach Ron Wilson:
“Vesa is like any other athlete . . . he needs a little competition, a little push from behind. Hopefully he’ll get back to playing the way everyone thinks he can.” (The Star)
If Toskala’s play improves this year, be it from a return to health or a level of competition that he did not have last season, the team will find itself with a host suitors come the trade deadline (assuming Gustavsson is playing well enough to take over by that point). If for any reason Gustavsson does not pan out, the Leafs can easily re-sign Toskala or pursue other options in the free agent market (Pekka Rinne, Chris Mason, Evgeni Nabokov are all UFAs next summer). Not to mention that Justin Pogge will be given the benefit of another year in the AHL to develop his game, with the added incentive of having to prove himself on a whole new level in the face of tougher competition on the big club.
Through his signing of Gustavsson to a one-year deal, which includes a team option to re-up before the player reaches RFA status, Burke has provided not only competition for the incumbent players and the subsequent challenge for them to raise their level of play, but also organization latitude for planning future moves. At the end of the season, he can walk away from all of his goaltenders if he chooses … and if Gustavsson is everything they hope he can be, they have given themselves the opportunity to keep him in the fold at a bargain price for another season.
Defence
In: Francois Beauchemin, Garnet Exelby, Mike Komisarek
Out: Jay Harrison, Pavel Kubina, Jamie Sifers
You’ve all heard it before: defence wins championships. And few believe that more strongly than Brian Burke. With the signings of Beauchemin and Komisarek, and the trade for Exelby, Burke has made his defense corps deeper, more talented, and much tougher to play against.
Burke has made his priorities for the defence corps clear on several occasions:
“My teams are physical teams. I want a bigger, more hostile team. I have not been able to do that yet. We need more bite.” (The Sun)
“We shoot for a top-four group that has a high skill level, the bottom two guys we look to do the plumbers’ work, which are really important jobs.” (The Hockey News)
“You need some bite back there (on defence). You need some knuckles on the blue line, too, some five-minute majors. I think with the changes we’ve made, there’s some bite there, there’s some size there.” (The Star)
“If you have toughness, it is a tool in the toolbox like goaltending and like team speed. Toughness is one of the attributes that can allow you to win a game, and I think your young players develop quicker if they’re in a fear-free environment.” (CBC)
Burke left little doubt that he was tired of watching his team get pushed around. Far too often last season, Leafs’ defenders could not control the opposition in their own zone, and players were guilty of backing down much more frequently than standing up for themselves or their teammates. That will be the case no longer, with heavy hitters (and willing pugilists) such as Komisarek, Exelby and Beauchemin around.
But the intimidation factor is only a part of what Burke is building with his defense. He has also added skill the blueline with his acquisitions: Komisarek is regarded as an excellent two-way player whose struggles last season can be attributed to team-wide collapse in Montreal; Beauchemin made his name in Anaheim as a reliable, intelligent defensive presence; and Exelby has fostered a reputation as one of the more effective crease-clearing defenders in the game.
Most importantly of all, Burke has brought in players who will emphasize accountability; not just with their own teammates but with the opposition as well. This group will not be easy for anyone to play against, and liberties taken against the smaller, more skilled players will carry a heavy price.
Forwards
In: Colton Orr, Colin Stuart, Rickard Wallin
Out: Boyd Devereaux, Ryan Hollweg, Kris Newbury, Tim Stapleton, Jeremy Williams
Now that the goaltending and defence have been addressed, one would expect the next step in Burke’s plan would be to round out his forward unit with both grit and skill. When it comes to constructing forward units, Burke again believes in building from the back end up:
“The bottom six forwards are expected to fill and perform hard-hat functions. The plumber’s function. These are guys that are going to have to get their hands dirty, our fighting comes from that group, our PK comes from that group, our shot blocking. That is the energy. The other guys (top six), maybe they’re the guys sitting on top of the float in the parade. These are the guys that keep the engine running.” (CBC)
Indeed, Burke’s first move in free agency was to pursue a heavyweight to protect his skill players up front. His reasoning behind it was simple: the skill players must be allowed to do what they do best.
“You don’t want your heavyweight to be a defenceman, the ice time is too valuable. That’s why we got Colton Orr … sometimes Grabovski spent more time on the ice than the Zamboni. (Our forwards) were getting knocked down and picking their teeth out of the glass all year. Let’s see how they do with a little toughness around.”
If Burke is looking to improve his forward unit, he is starting in the right place. Adding a top scorer is much more difficult than adding toughness and character. Although a top offensive threat has not been acquired, the addition of Orr should allow the Leafs’ existing skill players more room to maneuver, facing less harassment from the opposition.
At the same time, Burke remains committed to injecting skill and leadership into his team, as evidenced by the recent signing of another Swedish Elitserien star, Rickard Wallin, who has won just about everything there is to win at the international level. Burke made clear the priorities for his team, when asked about the signing:
“(Wallin) is a strong two-way (player) that will provide a solid presence in our dressing room.” (TSN)
Two-way play, leadership, and accountability were what caught Burke’s eye with Wallin. That and the advantage of an affordable commitment, too (one year, 900k plus bonuses). Clearly, Burke’s philosophy is that attitude trumps skill, and before you can focus on the skill players you must first set the proper tone in the locker room with players who know what it takes to win both on the ice and off it, and are willing to compete for their jobs.
Given the plethora of players in the fold to compete for bottom-six duties, the expectation now has shifted toward Burke taking a look at revamping his scoring units. With no guaranteed jobs in the top six, a dogfight for those positions is expected to take place among incumbents Grabovski, Ponikarovsky, Hagman, Blake, Stajan, and Stempniak. Young players on the rise such as Kulemin, Bozak, and Stalberg will also get an opportunity to earn a spot in the top six.
The Leafs have several bargaining pieces, including 9 NHL veteran defenders, 2 NHL-ready defenders, a host of veteran grinders and young players with potential, as well as cap space and the willingness to use it. However, Burke insists he will not jump the gun on any trade unless he feels the return is something which can benefit his team both now, and in the future:
“We’re not done. We’ve still got cap room and you can go over the cap in the summer … the next thing is to see if we can parlay a defenceman into a forward. But I haven’t been given any offers that approach what I would think it would take to make [a] deal.” (The Star).
A Look Ahead
Patience is the name of the game with Burke’s plan for growing the team. To date, he has added competition in net, skill and toughness to the defence, and accountability and leadership up front. To nobody’s surprise, he focused largely on toughness and character during the draft, while still ensuring a certain amount of skill was added also in talented forwards Nazem Kadri and Jeremy D’Amigo.
Although the next logical step looks to be adding a top offensive threat, such a move may not necessarily occur right away. Given the need to acquire and retain assets for the future, and to discover if the younger players have a future on this team, there is no immediate rush to get a top-tier forward simply for the sake of having a star up front. If the right deal for both the present and future presents itself, Burke will jump at it, but until that time remains quite content to hold onto his assets until he feels he can maximize their value.
The highest marks for Burke’s work this summer, however, must be saved for the competition he has created amongst his players. No longer does anybody on the roster have a guaranteed job; now the players will be expected to compete for their ice time and their respective roles on the team. Burke believes firmly that the process of competition will bring out the best in his players, and will eliminate the country club atmosphere and culture of entitlement that has surrounded the club for so many years.
Reflecting on his plan, and its progress so far, Burke reiterated his stance that the most important factor in building a team is fostering the proper attitude and approach among the players:
“If you’re coming into training camp and your biggest concern is where you’re going to be sitting on the bus or who your roommate’s going to be on the road, you’re not going to get to the level of excellence or the push that you need to excel. And to me, that’s the biggest single thing that’s happened [this offseason]. There’s a push at the goaltender position, there’s a push on D, and we’ll address [the forwards] … that’s how organizations get better.” (National Post)
Brian Burke’s plan for building the Maple Leafs into a sustainable contender is well underway. Although it is far too early to predict the plan’s ultimate success, few would argue that the retooling is off to a very encouraging start.
garrettbauman@mapleleafshotstove.com
July 12th, 2009 at 7:19 pm
@Blue max
I KNOW, sometime I want to say something but I know I will just be flamed. But when it comes to guys like Kessel they say they dont want him, and hes not worth it. Regardless to what anyone says he scored 36 goals in like 70 games. Thats sick. Not because a guy was a good passer to him (Strum), because Kessel is the one who finished. Thats what we lack, a true finisher. If any of our guys like Bozak, Tlusty, Hanson, Kulemin, Grabovsski, or Kadri EVER were as good as Kessel is right now, we would be lucky!!!! We should take the talent now when we can. In another year or two, we will all say “remember when we could have had Kessel, man we should have got him”….much like the Carter situation….
July 12th, 2009 at 7:34 pm
Shanny a Leaf???? Not saying i want this to happen, i don’t think his experience and playoff experience is what we need to spend money on… I would rather leave the roster as is then have Shanny take a spot away from Bozak or Hanson chances on making the team. Not the right timing for Shanny…we should of got him 10+ years ago!
here is the link.
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/216709-brendan-shanahan-soon-to-be-a-maple-leaf
any rumblings from you guys on this one? first I have heard of it…and i am not sure how accurate this site is for rumours…. Leaf news regardless..enjoy
July 12th, 2009 at 7:35 pm
Leafs_Freak
You sure read my post wrong (and I won’t reference drugs you may be on). I said they can make the playoffs being defensive. I mentioned the Rangers because they gave up only 218 goals but only scored 210. Thats hardly an offence to fear.
Read what I write, not what you daydream.
July 12th, 2009 at 7:44 pm
LOL @ SNOT!
I never said the rangers had an offense to fear, but any retard out there knows the rangers defense was crap! Maybe you should think about things before stating them as facts?
I guess it’s not just snot your pulling outta ur nose, bits of brain are coming with it! (UG Head slap)
July 12th, 2009 at 7:47 pm
@Ian – He wouldn’t command no more then 1m or less, and no one’s really doing to sign him for more. But he would be a replacement for May and we need as many cup winners w/playoff experience in case this team some how squeaks in.
Put him on the 4th line w/Orr and Wallin. Mitchell could play the wing on the 2nd or 3rd line.
If Det can keep Chelios for their run last year, we can have Shanny.
It would sell jerseys for sure.
July 12th, 2009 at 7:52 pm
Never argue with a fool….
July 12th, 2009 at 7:54 pm
I wouldnt mind seeing Shanny here for a year as a plumber. If it pans out good we could get something at the deadline, who knows? Even if he played a small 4th or 3rd line role it would be fun to watch, and the leadership factor is something we need for the young guys
July 12th, 2009 at 8:00 pm
Grabovski – Kulemin – Ponikarovsky
Bozak – Blake – Hagman
J.Mitchell – Hanson – Tlusty
Wallin – Orr – Shanahan
Schenn – Komisarek
Kaberle – Beauchemin
Finger – White
Toskala – Gustavsson
July 12th, 2009 at 8:03 pm
Tlusty will be on a higher line then Bozak Im sure. Maybe not though but I would bet he will
July 12th, 2009 at 8:27 pm
Jay Harrison signed with Florida. Kind of liked him and hope he does well there.
July 12th, 2009 at 9:07 pm
i think brad may will sign close to training camp
July 12th, 2009 at 9:43 pm
@Bleed_It_Blue_White
i know what your saying, however i dont think he will get under a million. unless that is the reason why no one has signed him yet, so u may be right on his worth of under a million. i dont think we need to replace May’s leadership & experience. I think Beauchemin and to a lesser degree Komisarek do that, however they are d-men. As for a fwd with that type experience, yes it can be argued we need someone to push our young guys upfront, however i would rather see where this team is at the christmas break before we make a move for that type of player..jerseys will sell no matter what, however i dont want the leafs picking up the Housleys, Leeches and Nolans past their prime. We can get that type of leadership, i just dont think Shanny at his age is going to want to sign with the leafs in a rebuild.
July 12th, 2009 at 9:49 pm
No Chicago is no doubt not going to trade Toews or Kane. But they do have SERIOUS cap problems. A trade, as mentioned here of Campbell, Byfuglien and Sharp for a 6th round draft choice is not as hilarious as it may sound. They need space! The Hawks are 4.5 (approx) over the cap NOW and need to resign Toews, Kane and Keith next year. What were they thinking signing Hossa and MADDEN? Sharp, Sopel, Byfuglien and Versteeg for bargain shop basement prices?
Brendan Shanahan? Good question! Really do we need more forwards when we have 15 now? Having said that, Shanahean IS a great leader and would help the Leafs young guns! IF we can somehow dump some of the dead wood (Stempniak, Mayers, Blake) I’m all for it – for the right price! Brad May appeared to be a quality steadying influence as well! But we can’t have both!
Somehow we need to make a 4-for-1 deal with three forwards and a “D” going out – and a “top-six” centre coming in, but easier said than done!
July 12th, 2009 at 10:54 pm
I would rather sign Bertuzzi or Shanahan than Brad May. Although May would add a little extra bite on our fight line… as it stands now the 4th line would consist of Mayers-Orr-Deveaux likely. I can’t think of anybody else who’s an NHL ready scrapper… will be interesting to see how DeVane ends up doing, as well as Greenop.
July 13th, 2009 at 12:51 am
ARE YOU KIDDING ME !?!?
you guys honestley think they can sighn up Keith,Towes and Kane… The differnce between chicago and pitsburgh is that pitsburgh could afford those players. Chicago has to many long term cap hits. Hossa,Campbell Sharp etc. I honestley think one will be expendable because in this cap world its immpossble to keep towes Keith and Kane when you are already at the cap for next season. You guys are legit fcking idiots.
July 13th, 2009 at 1:15 am
@ Paynter Graham
according to capgeek.com (best cap info site i’ve found) the Blackhawks have $1,431,752 in cap room with 23 players signed for next season.
July 13th, 2009 at 1:30 am
@Ryan
Also note that the Blackhawks have expiring contracts next season…It’s not like they’re 10-15mil over the cap here, they can easily expand a couple of valuable commodities for draft picks to free up space, not to mention Toews and Kane might be considerate to the Hawks and their situation and offer to stay together for slightly less money than if they were to go to other teams individually.
July 13th, 2009 at 8:04 am
@goleafsgo – Ek has the Hawks listed as over $4.5 mill over the salary cap with 25 players signed. Quite a significant difference between the two figures. Does cap geek have the recent signings of Bolland, Versteeg, Madden, Eager, Barker and Hossa etc. listed on their sight?
Either way, they do have a major problem!
July 13th, 2009 at 9:16 am
@ Ryan
I get what your saying but I don’t think Chicago will get rid of any of those three, they will ditch others for next to nothing before they go that route.
What do you think we would do if we were over the cap and Schenn needed to be resigned? Do you think we would trade him because Finger is making 3.5 million and we have no cap room or do you think we would get rid of Finger?
July 13th, 2009 at 9:45 am
@RJ
Your %100 correct. While its fun to dream sometimes, and think what ifs????….But you have to put yourself in the other teams shoes. There are alot of ways they can keep Toews and Kane. Dump Campbelle in the minors, dump Huet in the minors. Lets not forget as well that the “Hey lets call Bob Gainey and see what he will give up” is a easy option. If someone can deal for Gomez @ 7.35, they would think Campbelle for 7.1 was a steal lol
July 13th, 2009 at 10:04 am
I agree with you that the Hawks will do everything in their power to keep Toews, Kane and Keith. I just don’t understand why they sign a guy like Madden, to compound their problems, when they must realize they are in cap trouble.
To sign their star players, there are going to be some quality players have to be moved for next to nothing, if anything. Campbell is their biggest problem without a doubt! Who would ever want that contract? Of course we did think that about Gomez, didn’t we?
July 13th, 2009 at 10:45 am
Well Madden is only signed for one year so they must have a plan for dumping a bit of salary this year already. Next year is the big year they will have to deal with it but Im sure they will. I would rather have the talent and pick and choose from it, then to not have the talent and want it
July 13th, 2009 at 10:49 am
I am not srue guys but from both of my preferred cap sites capgeek and nhlnumbers
they have 34.45 for Fs + 18.07 for Ds + 5.625 in Gs with another needed at approx 0.827 + a buyout of 0.456 the math works out to 59.428 which is 2.6 over the cap as of now with 14 fwds 6 dmen 1 gs + a backup and their buyout. There may be a loophole that Chicago will try to use which would be about the bonuses. So they could push the bonuses to the following year which would mean 59.428 – 4.6 = 54.828 which would give them a 2M cap space. The numbers everywhere do not add up although these places could be using the summer cap of 62.48 as opposed to the season cap of 56.8.
Although if you want to get confused compare Ott and Chi cap numbers Chi Cap number is higher but still has space where Ott is lower and is right at the cap or over.
July 13th, 2009 at 10:55 am
The thing I find interesting is the TO cap number. One site has The monster listed and a .9 hit which was how the talk went the other has him at a base of that + a bonus of 1.6 which would seem correct considering he is on an entry level deal
July 13th, 2009 at 11:01 am
and did anyone know Bozak is set to make .875 but could cost 3.75 if his bonuses are met? Those 2 shrink our cap space frpm 7.5 to 2.5 quickly
July 13th, 2009 at 11:25 am
Yes, I think remember that some clause got taken out, or didn’t count until the players signed an extension or something like that, that basically made all the bonuses count against the cap where as they didn’t before.
Maybe GB or one of the writers could clarify that again for all of us with short memories.
July 13th, 2009 at 5:40 pm
@ Paynter Graham
Yes, capgeek has everything up to date including extensions, bonuses and everything else. I recomend using capgeek.com for salary cap info over cap central on hockeybuzz. capgeek even has entry level deals for Kadri and Hedman already while cap central still has Stapleton and Harrison as Leaf property. And I agree, either way you slice it Chicago has a major cap problem.
July 13th, 2009 at 9:40 pm
nhlnumbers.com is a good cap site as well
Cheers!
July 13th, 2009 at 10:56 pm
B Leaf – Ya nhlnumbers is interesting – note a few things different from HockeyBuzz – Hockey Buzz has Jack Sille signed for one thing, nhlnumbers doesn’t have Skille listed as cap hit. Not sure why? Also a couple more defensemen with no cap hit, and Corey Crawford the goalie. If they are signed it is a cap hit, isn’t it?
July 14th, 2009 at 2:29 am
I dont think it is unless they’re called up to the show at all…but I could be wrong here.
July 14th, 2009 at 4:22 am
Philly is in the same, if not worse shape especially if the cap goes down next year. They have Coburn, Parent and Carcillo as RFA’s and no starting goalie signed after this season. The reason I say they’re worse off is at least Chicago has tradeable contracts (besides Campbell who has a NTC, but he can always go to the minors) whereas the Flyers dont have many tradeable contracts. Briere ($6.5 hit) and Timonen ($6.3+ hit) have NMC’s, Hartnell ($4.2 hit) and Gagne ($5.25 hit) have NTC’s, and nobody’s trading for Carle ($3.4+ hit) unless his play turns for the better and Pronger ($4.9+ hit) was just signed so he’s goin no where. Thats approx. $30.55 of cap space to those 6, nearly un-moveable contracts. And their tradeable, big contract guys are too important to them in Carter ($5.0 hit) and Richards ($5.75 hit and has a NMC that starts in 2012) to move just for cap space.
So, thats approx. $41.3 in cap space tied up in 8 players whose contracts will be difficult to rid themselves of. With the cap supposedly goin down next season the Flyers could have to end up literally giving away guys like Carter, JVR, Coburn, Parent and Giroux just to survive in the cap world.
July 14th, 2009 at 7:57 am
@goleafsgo1328
I know, your right. I was looking at that all year, then they traded for Pronger and I was like WTF? If I were Burke I would be watching them like a hawk waiting to pounce on their mistakes!
July 14th, 2009 at 6:13 pm
dont worry about ourr capp!
soon
kaberle will be gone
then after gustavson proves himself a little more
toskala will be gone so theres 8mil!
then you have blake comen off in a couple years
stempniaks hit wont be there much longer
stajans capp hit will be gone aswell
theres over 10 million in payroll gone within the next two season
July 14th, 2009 at 6:15 pm
at this point i would not even mind signing players too offer sheets
or taken on a bad contract to get more pick/prospects
phillys lose should be our gains!
i would really like to see either parent or giroux in a leaf jersey
but kessel would be awesome tooo!!
July 15th, 2009 at 11:24 pm
@ AL /July.12th/ 2:50am
I totally agree.. now (hopefully ) is the time to cash in on Kaberle’s value and bring in some value .. a young top 6 foward, a prospect or two or a pick… we are deep enough on D like you said and we’ll be fine without him.
I’m a Kaberle fan.. he’s been our best and most consistent D-man for years, but burke will make calls and do whatever he can do create a stir and see what’s there for Kabby before Aug/15th…
His time is up… just the way things go
July 30th, 2009 at 11:00 pm
I am curious how everyone suggests that the Blackhawks send Brian Campbell to the minors considering the fact that a high-caliber player such as Campbell is would no doubt have signed a 1-way contract. This being said, a 1-way contract has him subject to waivers before being able to be dumped into the minors. The Blackhawks would most likely attempt to trade him for some kind of return in a salary dump deal before putting him through waivers.
November 3rd, 2009 at 4:26 pm
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