If you look at the recent method of construction of the last two Stanley Cup champions, Bruins GM Peter Chiarelli and Kings GM Dean Lombardi did not build their clubs solely by accumulating and choosing lottery picks, making trades for impact players or investing mega-millions in free agency, but used all three avenues to put together a winning combination.
Boston developed home grown talent in David Krejci, Patrice Bergeron, Milan Lucic and Brad Marchand, added to their quality depth by acquiring Nathan Horton, Chris Kelly, Rich Peverley, Gregory Campbell and Dennis Seidenberg in various trades and landed big pieces of the puzzle with the free agent signings of goaltender Tim Thomas in 2005 and big Zdeno Chara in 2006.
L.A. had a quality young core with goaltender Jonathan Quick and former first rounders Anze Kopitar, Dustin Brown and Drew Doughty, but bolstered the team’s experience and firepower with the additions of Mike Richards, Jeff Carter, Dustin Penner, Justin Williams and Jarret Stoll and solidified their blueline with the signing of veteran free agents Willie Mitchell and Rob Scuderi.
Entering this off-season, Toronto GM Dave Nonis is likely to take a more balanced, patient approach in assembling this edition of the Maple Leafs than his predecessor Brian Burke did in his first summer as general manager. Burke made more good decisions than bad during his time in Toronto, but the critical errors made early on hamstrung the organization for the remaining three years of his tenure.
Burke miscalculated in 2009 with the free agent signings of defensemen Mike Komisarek and Francois Beauchemin and trading two first rounders to Boston for Phil Kessel, as he thought those additions would get the Leafs into the playoffs right away. The result was finishing 29th place in the standings and serving the division rival Bruins franchise player Tyler Seguin on a silver platter.
Nonis is right to be encouraged by the performance of the Leafs in 2013, with improving youngsters Nazem Kadri, Jake Gardiner and Matt Frattin and the addition of James van Riemsdyk contributing to the end of their nine year playoff drought, but he should not overestimate where the club is in their development.
*******Find Great Deals On Toronto Maple Leafs Tickets At FanXchange.com*******
The next month will see a slew of compliance buyouts throughout the league. Toronto will likely use that out to dispose of the last year of Komisarek’s deal and possibly the eradication of either John-Michael Liles remaining three years or Mikhail Grabovski’s remaining four years, but how Nonis spends that cleared space under a reduced league salary cap will go a long way in determining whether the Leafs will make the post-season for the second year in a row.
It will be tempting to make a splash in free agency with Toronto-born winger David Clarkson, Nathan Horton, Ryane Clowe or Mike Ribiero potentially hitting the market on July 5, but the urge to add in free agency has to be tempered by the reality that these players are in a position of negotiating strength because this year’s free agent pool is not deep.
Nonis has to find a few more Jay McClement type deals; players who will improve the overall quality of the team and be willing to take a reasonable, cap-friendly deal to come to Toronto, instead of paying Tim Connolly almost $5 Million a season as a fallback for not getting Brad Richards.
The Leafs are not one big piece away from being a Stanley Cup contender. Making beneficial trades or good draft picks will be an important part of the overall equation, but not making a costly mistake in the July free agent frenzy is essential.
For Those on Twitter:
KINDLE USERS: Please sign up for Maple Leafs Buzz, which includes a free-of-charge 14-day trial and is just 99 cents per month afterwards. For more information
click here.
If you are interested in sponsorship or advertising your business in the Greater Toronto / Southern Ontario area on this column, please send a message for more information by clicking on the “Contact” button at the top of the page. 
Toronto Maple Leafs Blogger • 
Join the Discussion:
»