First and foremost I would like to let my readers know that beginning August 1st I will be writing on Hockeybuzz for the Maple Leafs on Monday’s, Wednesday’s and Friday’s moving forward. I’ve been looking forward to the start of this NHL season more than any, so this just adds a little icing to the cake.

Thank you for all of the positive feedback throughout the 2015/16 season!

The month of July is always a slower one in the National Hockey League, at least for us fans. We know the General Managers and their team of experts are busy signing entry level contracts and resigning their teams respected RFA’s. Some of the deals are of quality and others are eye opening as it sets the bar for other teams to resign their players.

Toronto’s General Manager Lou Lamoriello was quick to sign both Kadri and Rielly to six year deals in April. Both players were to become RFA’s on July first, but Lou took care of business quickly before any trends were set.

Kadri finished the season as the Leafs leading scorer, while Rielly had his best season yet, contributing 9 goals and 27 assists averaging over 23 minutes per game.

Lou and the Leafs management were impressed with both players last season and believe each player has a higher ceiling and is capable of contributing more as their careers progress in Toronto.

If Kadri and Rielly were still RFA’s to this day, perhaps they would both be able to get more money than they signed for back in April. On that note, I’d say Lou read the writing on the wall and worked quickly to get both signed.

If you recall, Kadri was signed to a one year contract which was to determine if he was to be part of the Maple Leafs future or not. Obviously Kadri responded with a quality season, enough for Babcock to have faith in him and play him against all of the top opposition to see if he had what it took. Babcock was impressed with Kadri’s talent, even more so with his tenacious play.

Of course Kadri was thrilled to continue to be a Maple Leaf as he’s seen them rock bottom and looks forward to the rise of the blue and white.

Kadri was quoted, “Toronto's been home for, Toronto's where my heart is, The Maple Leaf logo is all I've ever known and it's all I've ever wanted to play for. For them to show this kind of commitment towards me meant a lot."

Rielly on the other hand took absolutely no time to become Babcock’s leader on defense. His skills and work ethic are superb, and as Lamoriello believes Rielly has “all-star potential, and is the key to our defence, he’s our leader there.”

Believe it or not, even on a last place team, Rielly produced 27 even-strength points, which was at par with PK Subban and Aaron Ekblad. Quite impressive considering the Leafs was a gutter team in 2015/16 and lacked some serious offense. Rielly is here to stay, and will only get better, I think you see him truly break out this season with his first 40+ point season. One thing is certain, Morgan has the right attitude.

"I certainly want to be a player in this league that his team can be proud of," he said Wednesday. "This year I took some steps, but I realize I have a long way to go, a long way to improve and for me, I'm just looking forward to the challenge. I want to get better and move forward with this team."

As the Leafs ripen over the next season or two, players like Kadri and Rielly will finally have some high quality talent to play with and should be able to maximize their output. Each of those contracts are a thing of beauty and should help the Maple Leafs sign their young studs in Matthews, Marner, Nylander and other players who break out.

A quick overview of the 2016 Draft:

Round 1: Auston Matthews – Center – 6’2” - 216
Round 2: Yegor Korshkov – Right Wing – 6’3” – 175
Round 2: Carl Grundström – Right Wing – 6’0” – 187
Round 3: Joseph Woll – Goalie – 6’3” – 196
Round 3: James Greenway – Defense – 6’4.25” – 167
Round 4: Adam Brooks – Center – 5’10” – 169
Round 4: Keaton Middleton – Defense – 6’4.5” – 215
Round 5: Vladimir Bobylev – Right Wing – 6’2” – 202
Round 6: Jack Walker – Left Wing – 5’11” – 180
Round 6: Nicolas Mattinen – Defense – 6’4.5” – 220
Round 7: Nikolai Chebykin – Right Wing – 6’4” – 182

Matthews will be a sure shot to make the team out of camp, and without a doubt Nylander will be joining him in his rookie campaign after getting a 22 game taste last season where he put up 13 points. There will be quite the battle for other rosters spots between Marner, Soshnikov, Rychel, Hyman, Brown and Leivo. I’d imagine Leipsic, Lindberg and Kapanen all have another season in the AHL as they progress their careers.

It’s all going to depend how management goes about things as the season inches closer.

Will a big trade go down to make the picture clearer? Will management opt to buyout or send down players such as Michalek or Greening? What about Lupul, is he going to be traded or come back as a miracle worker like he was a number of years ago for the blue and white? What are the odds of another five player trade going down like the Grabner trade last season?

Whichever way you want to shake it there will be a solid influx of young talent joining the Maple Leafs this season, especially if some of the older players are pushed to the side or end up injured. There may be some struggles in the early going, but if things click the Leafs could cause some damage, after all, they have the best coach in the business and an extreme amount of high end talent being injected into the lineup.

What Maple Leafs rookies do you think will be on the ice for opening night?

Thanks for reading, happy hump day to all!

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