 There is no NHL franchise that is more beloved by its fans or more valuable financially than the Toronto Maple Leafs. Unfortunately, this also brings more scrutiny during the bad years, and more pressure to turn things around in an expedient manner. The Maple Leafs have begun to turn the corner from the management perspective by hiring former Anaheim GM Brian Burke, but the media glare in Canada's biggest city means that this team is going to try to recover from a poor season in the brightest spotlight in the entire hockey world, which is not an enviable task. Toronto had a terrible season for one major reason; their 293 goals allowed total was by far the worst in the entire league. Despite their defensive shortcomings, the Leafs still managed to finish with a 34-35-13 record, but missed the playoffs for the third consecutive year. Toronto's new GM was on the job all summer, starting with the deal that brought Garnet Exelby and Colin Stuart from Atlanta, in return for the talented but expensive Pavel Kubina, while also upgrading the defense with the acquisitions of Mike Komisarek and Francois Beauchemin. The other major deal was the Maple Leafs' highly touted victory in the "Monster"' sweepstakes, as Swedish goaltender Jonas Gustavsson decided to come to Toronto after as many as twelve teams had battled to get his name on the dotted line. Toronto's longest and most drawn out move of the summer was their pursuit of scoring winger Phil Kessel from Boston. After a rumored deal fell through at the trade deadline, the Leafs were still able to pick up the speedy young winger in September, but for a very high price of two first-round draft picks. The one current downside to the Kessel deal is that the he will not be on the ice for a few months due to offseason shoulder surgery, and the Leafs could really use his 36 goals in their lineup immediately. Aside from Kessel, Toronto does possess other solid talent such as Jason Blake, Alex Ponikarovsky, Matt Stajan, and Nik Hagman, which should form two fairly strong lines that will get the job done, but won't really scare anyone until Kessel is back and performing at his peak. The good news for Toronto is that they have a significantly better lineup of defensemen this year. Beauchemin and Komisarek are great additions to a unit which also boasts the two-way talents of Tomas Kaberle, and the immense potential of up-and-comer Luke Schenn now in his second year. Ian White, Jeff Finger, and Exelby, complete a solid group which is vastly improved from a year ago. In goal, the Leafs still have some concerns despite signing Gustavsson. The incumbent first stringer, Vesa Toskala, is still expected to begin the season as the starter, and needs to perform much better than last year when he struggled at times. An improved defensive front should help, and there is good depth available, but the Leafs need one of the two to emerge as the clear number one choice in goal. The Leafs are a much more talented team than last year and should fare much better this season under new coach Ron Wilson. Get your Toronto Maple Leafs tickets and come to the Air Canada Centre to see the new Leafs team restore the winning tradition to the most demanding, yet loyal, fans in hockey.
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