Armchair Coach: Trade Deadline and Free Agency '08

so the Leafs, already a fairly non-physical team in the past 2-3 seasons, just shed the contracts of enforcer Wade Belak, checking-leader-and-hardest-slapshot Chad Kilger (both to Florida) and largest-defenseman-in-the-East-after-Chara Hal Gill (to Pittsburgh). what we gave up in size, we gained in draft picks (a 2nd, 3rd and two 5th rounders). for a team that hasn't had a 1st round pick in 3 seasons, i guess that's a good thing. come the start of free agency season on July 1, the Leafs have promised to clean house a little bit more, using the extra time to get a bit more creative about moving contracts. Kubina's no-trade clause, for instance, no longer applies if the Leafs do not make the playoffs this season.

of course, this means next season's squad will be vastly different. the following is a list of players i want to see returning to be the core group of players to rebuild from:

Vesa Toskala: has clearly proven himself to be No. 1 goalie material and can handle himself in the Toronto media storm. we need Pogge to develop in the AHL for one more year to see if he can handle the workload of a full season.

Mats Sundin: he didn't want to be traded. we now have a chance to actually build a team around him, instead of saddling him with over-the-hill ex-marquee players. give him someone who can score and a couple of veterans with character and class to form the core leadership of the team.

Nik Antropov: after 8 seasons of inconsistency and injury, Antropov is finally showing the naysayers just how wrong they have been all these years. he is healthy and at home in Toronto. he is a rare breed of hockey player: huge in size with a very deft touch and great shot.

Matt Stajan: he's not the flashiest, nor does he put up the best numbers, but i think Matt Stajan brings a lot more to the ice than can be quantified in stat sheets. his game has improved very steadily over the years; thanks to the influences of Nieuwendyk and Peca, his faceoff and defensive game means any line he anchors is a stablizing force almost every night. though he doesn't score much himself, he has shown offensive capability once in awhile and has the gift of being able to elevate the play of his wingers. case in point, Blake and Tucker, who were practically deadbeats on the ice earlier in the season, have found new life on the ice with Stajan. he is not the fastest skater, but is very strong on the puck for someone his size and has a nose for finding loose pucks, resulting in his line being able to cycle down low for extensive preiods of time. he is always available to the media after every game or practice (having grown up in the GTA watching and idolizing the Leafs) and has shown leadership potential and initiative as the NHLPA representative for the team. when Sundin retires, i think Stajan, the kid who scored a goal on his first shot in his first game in the NHL, should be the next captain.

Alex Steen: brings a very similar game to the team as Stajan, but less of a playmaker and more of a digger. has some offensive potential to go with his speed and sound defense, which will hopefully blossom in the next year or two.

Tomas Kaberle: slowly but surely becoming one of the premiere defensemen in the league. skates beautifully and has a very patient and slick approach to puck control. passes like no other player and can log a mountain of minutes in every situation. shoots very accurately, but is loathe to do so, for whatever philosophical reason, so he will need to be paired with someone who can launch the biscuit.

Carlo Colaiacovo: brilliant offensive defenseman that plays fairly responsibly and throws his weight around with almost reckless abandon. has been in the NHL for 5 years but has barely played a full season's worth of games due to freak injuries. if he can stay healthy and play consistently, we'll see a renaissance in his game, like Antropov.

Anton Stralman: anchored the Swedish junior team's defense. similar to Colaiacovo in that he is a very smooth skating defenseman who can carry the puck very well.

see how the list is short?

what we'll need to rebuild:

Defensemen that play defense. after years of Potvin, Joseph and Belfour, Leafs defense has been notoriously porous and lackadaisal because they've always relied on gamestealing goaltending. Toskala can provide that now, but there are some nights the defense needs to steal a game for the goaltender. we need large bodies that can clear the blue paint with little fuss and make it tough for screens to set up shop. we've got puck movers, so the other half ought to be puck stoppers.

Forwards that can finish. this was the general idea in bringing in Blake, but he hasn't regained the 40 goal scoring touch that he had in his contract year with the Islanders (like *ahem Jeff O'Neill). we need trigger men who can put the puck into the net given our wealth of playmakers (Sundin, Antropov, Stajan, Kaberle). this doesn't mean we need flashy Alexander Mogilny style snipers, but more like Gary Robertses or Ryan Smyths or Dave Andreychuks, who put away the garbage in and around the blue paint.