What the Puck Heads are Saying and my Thoughts:
In the last few days I have reading various Leaf articles from TSN, The Star and The Globe and Mail on what they should do.
1) Take the 'C' off Phaneuf. Well unless he volunteers to take it off, than this would mean you probably have to trade him after that kick in the teeth. The thought is that Phaneuf will play better with not having the pressure of the 'C'. He has a limited no trade clause and I could not find any specifics regarding this to gauge how hard it would be to trade him. I doubt the Leafs could get equal value coming back. Besides who would replace him as Captain? The alternates are Joffrey Lupul and Jay McClement? It takes a thick skin to be the Captain in Toronto and the media plays rough.
One other thought about Phaneuf is that he should drop the gloves a few more times a season. I'd like to see him challenge the other teams leaders/top players when they are down in order to give the team a kick. Sometimes this works to get a momentum change. Iglina and Thornton have both done this successfully in the past.
2) The Signing Bust in David Clarkson. I do think the Leafs grossly overpaid for him and the puck heads speculate that he is trying too hard to earn his pay cheque (aka Scott Gomez or Chris Drury disease.) Missing the first 10 games from a suspension at the beginning of the season was stupid, but the teams need someone who will stand up for his teammates. I think next season he will play a lot better with a proper start to the season and if he has Bolland or a decent center to develop some chemistry with. He's making $1.25 too much for the next 6 seasons. But, he's a proven effective grinder with New Jersey. I think he will turn it around next season and the signing will look a lot better.
3) Get a True #1 Center. Well all the pundits said that at the beginning of the season (including me) and looking at the pending UFA's for this summer and there is only one capable center available in Paul Stastny. Well he is 28 and would likely want a 7 year deal for $7M a season. That may be a good deal for 3 maybe 4 seasons, but Stastny is going to slow down. Furthermore, he's a proven to be a second line center on Colorado of recent. Matt Duchene has surpassed him for top line honours and Ryan O'Reilly is the better two way player. The latter would dramatically help the Leafs as he's probably gets nominated for the Selke trophy and he does not take dumb penalties.
Other pending UFA centers include the following aging players David Legwand (33), Olli Jokinen (35), and the small Derek Roy (30). Lastly, there is Mikhail Grabovski (30) who got his contract bought 2 days before his wedding by Nonis. It would have been better to keep him than Bolland for this season. I can't fault Nonis on this as who knew Bolland would miss 60 games. A healthy Bolland is not the answer to their #1 center need though.
The only way the Leafs can get a top center in their prime is via trade or via the draft. The latter would require tanking to get in the top 3 in draft or just luck to get a star player later in the draft. I suggested yesterday they try to trade up for a higher draft pick from Edmonton, Calgary or the New York Islanders to get a top center or top defenceman.
4) Get a #1 Defenceman. A top caliber defenceman is probably the hardest player to find and takes several years to develop. Adding a Shea Webber, Duncan Keith, Drew Doughty or Ryan Suter to the Leafs would probably add dozen or more points to the Leafs standings and cut about 5 shots a night on net. The Leafs years ago in the Beauchemin for Lupul trade got Jake Gardiner. Gardiner now 23 has shown from time to time elite offensive skills and puck handling skills, he played extremely well in the Boston play-off series. However, he is far from consistent, prone to errors, and defensively mediocre in his own end. Gardiner now has 2 full seasons under his belt and he paid his dues in the AHL. Maybe a change of coach or team could get more out of him, he's a 4th or 5th defenceman as of now and not the answer.
Morgan Rielly the fifth overall pick from 2012 might be the answer. He has played very well in first season with the Leafs and continues to improve. Give a few more seasons he could be the #1 defenceman or at least #2 or #3 defenceman. The Leafs also have several prospects Matt Finn (2012 - 35th overall), Stuart Percy (2011- 25th Overall), Petter Granberg (2010 - 116th overall) and T.J. Brennan (2007 - 31st Overall). The Marlies played a strong season and are 3rd overall in their conference and 5th overall in the league. TJ Brennan leads the league with 22 goals and 63 points, Petter Granberg is +21, which is 10th overall in the league in his rookie AHL season, Stuart Percy has an admirable 22 points in his rookie season. Matt Finn is the #1 and leading scoring defenceman for the Guelph Storm with 61 points and +57 and 2nd highest scoring defenceman in the league. Guelph Storm finished the OHL season first in the league and dominated the Plymouth Whalers in the first round of the play-offs. So, odds after Rielly one of these players will become an effective NHL player.
Could there be a stop gap on the Summer free agent market that would be an upgrade over the Leafs current defense. There are several aging top pairing defencemen including Dan Boyle (37), Andrei Markov (35) and Kimmon Timmonen (39). Timmonen is probably going to retire and Boyle likely resign with San Jose or retire. Markov the youngest and the best player available when healthy will likely resign with Montreal, it was speculated that Markov wants 2 or 3 year deal worth $6M a season. Probably too much for Leafs or most teams.
There are several depth defenceman available and you can see a list at Capgeek.com. The best candidates include Kyle Quincey (28), Matt Niskanen (27), Andrew MacDonald (27), and Brooks Orpik (33). An addition of one of these players would improve the Leafs back end, one of them would be a step up on Gardiner, Gleason or Ranger. However, it would only make a marginal improvement in standings and shots against.
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