Offseason progress report for the Leafs

By Paul Bruno

Well, here we are, in the aftermath of the NHL DRAFT and two weeks into the free agency period and the Maple Leaf makeover has shown Brian Burke to be a man of action.

First, he preceded the Amateur Draft with signings of promising players like Tyler Bozak and Christian Hanson from the US College ranks. Then he acquired some players, at the Draft, who fit the combative and size requirements that he hopes to instill on this roster, down the road. Finally, in free agency he has set about improving those same elements in the short term, all with the goal of turning things around in Leafland.

We were hearing lots of complaints from those who wanted a big-ticket signing like the Sedin Twins or a Mike Cammalleri, but he has taken the more sensible route of building from the net out.

Can anyone honestly say that they aren’t looking like an improved club at least in goal and on defense?

Vesa Toskala was clearly not healthy for most of last season and Jonas Gustavsson has to be better than Justin Pogge or the aged Curtis Joseph were last year. All the defensive additions are going to make the Leafs a far cry from a soft team of a year ago. The veteran presence of Mike Komisarek and Francois Beauchemin will even be a stabilizing influence for the whole team. These guys are both solid leader-types.

Offensively, they have some skill in holdovers from last season and hope that the offensive leaders can take advantage of extra space provided by the increased nasty quotient on this roster.

Burke should be able to take a bow already for changing the mindset of his team, in such a short time.

They will be better than last year, even if they don’t make any more changes to the existing roster. That latter point is unlikely and will lead to more optimism as training camp approaches in mid-September.

Tags: brian burke, francois beauchemin, Mike Komisarek, Toronto Maple Leafs