The Toronto Maple Leafs have boasted about being one of the youngest teams in the league the last few years, but while that is a positive in many aspects, the youth and lack of depth cost the club a series victory in the 2013 Stanley Cup playoffs and the inability to hold on to a post-season berth in 2014.
Team President Brendan Shanahan and GM Dave Nonis believe they have found the remedy for the Maple Leafs ailments by adding veterans at forward and on the blueline who can provide secondary offense, stability and a good example for the club’s youngsters.
Toronto brought back Matt Frattin in a trade from Columbus and Leo Komarov and signed the pair to multi-year contracts. They also re-signed energy forward Troy Bodie, added former KHLer Petri Kontiola, David Booth, Mike Santorelli and Daniel Winnik.
While the signings give Toronto someone positional flexibility (Santorelli, Winnik and Kontiola can play center or wing), the common thread is they are all in their late 20’s, know what it takes to play in the NHL and have motivation to succeed as they signed one year deals.
On defense, Carl Gunnarsson for Roman Polak was a lateral move for a right-hand shooter, but the Leafs are looking to grizzled 37-year-old Stephane Robidas to help their promising pair of young blueliners.
“Morgan Rielly and Jake Gardiner,” Robidas said to
the National Post’s Michael Traikos. “When we talked about my role and what the Leafs are looking for, they’d like me to help the younger defencemen. To me that’s a great opportunity. I’ve watched them play. I know exactly how good they are and everything. Having a chance to play with one of the two and try to help those guys is going to be good for me.”
Robidas tutored Matt Niskanen(who signed a big ticket free-agent deal in Washington this summer) at the beginning of his career in Dallas, as well as Stars rookie Brendan Dillon in 2013 and it is likely that the Leafs envision he will mentor 20-year-old Rielly in his sophomore season, but could also be a help to Gardiner, who signed a five-year, $20.25 Million extension this week.
“When I first started in Montreal, they paired me up with Eric Weinrich. He had a calming presence that helped me.” Robidas said. “If I had a bad shift, he was always there for me and always tried to help me. I think it made me feel comfortable.”
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The Maple Leafs announced Thursday that they have extended their affiliation with the Orlando Solar Bears of the ECHL. The Leafs shared the affiliation with the Minnesota Wild in 2013-14 but Toronto will now be the Solar Bears’ sole NHL affiliate for the next two seasons.
“The Leafs are extremely pleased to renew our affiliation with the Orlando Solar Bears of the ECHL,” said Leafs GM Dave Nonis. “As an organization, we are confident that our future prospects will continue to develop professionally under the tutelage of Solar Bears coach Vince Williams.”
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