Autumn of NHL season will be crucial months
Though it may require the Maple Leafs to sign NHL free agent Brad Richards plus another offensive threat, after so many years of being sent out to golfing pastures, it is no longer enough to just dream of and plan for making the playoffs. Teams that compete strenuously for Lord Stanley's Cup have loftier objectives, so here are my worthwhile targets for the management of the Toronto Maple Leafs to consider.
Objective One - Toronto Marlies win the AHL's Calder Cup
With all the draft picks and impressive young talent in the Leafs system, this is the year to give the Marlies three goalies and twenty two skaters even if it means not everyone dresses every night. The team was raped by the NHL club last season as injured guys and players shipped out by the Leafs were replaced by seven callups from the Marlies, decimating the playoff chances of the American Hockey League franchise. Winning a Calder Cup will provide several graduates to the Leafs each of the next few years, and many "assets" with winning resumes that Burke can package in trades for impact players.
So if some players have big seasons in the AHL and don't get called up, deal with it. Significant holes on the big club will have to be filled via trades before and at the deadline, for this is a year we add talent that's ready to win.
Objective Two - First in Northeast Division on January 1st, 2012
Some may doubt that the Leafs can compete successfully with Boston, Montreal and Buffalo, yet Toronto finished just eleven points back of Montreal and Buffalo, and competed on equal footing with all three clubs during the second half of last season.
The Leafs need to focus on each five game and eight game stretch and perhaps win days off by winning these "mini-seasons", for the first three months of the 2011-2012 NHL season are crucial. I'll accept first place in the division on New Year's Day, or 2nd place but within five points of the top.
Objective Three - Round Two of NHL playoffs
I don't want to hear any excuses about who the Leafs draw in the 2012 NHL playoffs. If we're the favoured team then I expect us to win, and if we're the underdogs, the fans have waited long enough they deserve to both hope for and experience a NHL playoff series win.
So there you have it, my 3 goals for Toronto Maple Leafs management. Build for the future, shoot for the top, drive to the net.
Go Leafs Go!!!
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