D-Day

Now that the Leafs are part of the hockey news again I will end my hibernation since the end of the Leafs' season.

It's Draft Day in Columbus and the Leafs are getting some work done. They signed Carlo to a 3-year extension at $1.283 which is about $400K more than he had to receive in a qualifying offer as an RFA so Mats' unselfish contract has already paid off.

The most interesting part of the article came near the end though:

The Leafs now have eight defencemen under contract including Marlie Staffan Kronwall who's expected to crack the Leafs lineup.

That means that a spot has to open up in the top 6 of Kaberle-Kubina, McCabe-Carlo, White-Gill. In terms of who would make way for Kronwall I would have to say it would be either Kubina, McCabe or (please God) White.

The former pair would have to be moved via trade and the latter could just be sent to the Marlies to learn a backhand and that being hit won't actually kill you. Considering the following:

"We're looking to get better in goal. We'd like to have a tandem that can push each other and create a little more healthy internal competition and ultimately better results on the ice in goal,"

the rumours are rampant as to how Kubina or McCabe could fetch a goalie with the names of Manny Fernandez, Ilya Bryzgalov, and Vesa Toskala all being bandied about.

Add in the fact that the Leafs have a chance at a very good player at 13th and today could go a long way towards getting the team back as a fixture in the playoffs.

There is a rumour rampant that the Leafs are going to trade their 13th pick for Vesa Toskala conditional on them being able to sign him long-term. He will be entering the last year of a 2 year extension worth $2.75M per season. Please God. Let this happen.