The Toronto Maple Leafs are known for bringing in splashy acquisitions, but most of the time the addition of a big name has not ended up with a successful result.
Cliff Fletcher, Hall of Famers Pat Burns and Doug Gilmour got the Leafs to the Conference Final in 1993 and 1994. Ken Dryden, Pat Quinn, Curtis Joseph and Hall of Famer Mats Sundin led the Blue and White to the brink in 1999 and 2002, but the addition of Brian Burke from Anaheim in 2008, trades for Phil Kessel and Dion Phaneuf and hiring Stanley Cup winning coach Randy Carlyle resulted in one heartbreaking first round loss.
Brendan Shanahan is the latest notable name to take a stab at trying to bring Toronto back to respectability and this offseason the Leafs Team President has surprised many with his ability to attract the top of the food chain in management and coaching.
After dismissing GM Dave Nonis, interim head coach Peter Horachek and most of the scouting department at the end of the season, Shanahan hired head coach Mike Babcock away from the Detroit Red Wings in May and last week coaxed Hall-of-Fame GM Lou Lamoriello away from the New Jersey Devils.
History shows that big splashy management hires are invariably followed by a defining move with the roster.
Fletcher was hired in the summer of 1991 and before seeing his new club play a regular season game, “Trader Cliff” made a seven-player deal to get Glenn Anderson and Grant Fuhr from Edmonton and made an even larger deal with his former club four months later to get Gilmour from Calgary.
Dryden inherited Sundin from Fletcher and hired Quinn, but his masterstroke was the signing of Joseph, made possible by a fortuitous late night supermarket encounter with Cujo’s agent Don Meehan.
Burke was hired in November 2008 and after signing free agent defensemen Francois Beauchemin and Mike Komisarek the following summer, the Cup winning GM believed that his new club had one of the better blueline corps in the league and was a scorer short of contending for a playoff spot.
After failing to obtain Kessel in a trade at the ’09 Draft, the Leafs were successful in acquiring the speedy winger from Boston for two firsts and a second round pick.
Four months later, with Toronto near the bottom of the NHL standings, the Leafs obtained Phaneuf from Calgary and veteran goalie JS Giguere from Anaheim in an attempt to avoid finishing dead last, a situation eerily similar to what Toronto faced in 1990 when they were forced to make deals to stay out of last place to prevent the New Jersey Devils from selecting Eric Lindros with their 1991 first round pick (traded for Tom Kurvers).
Lamoriello’s situation is slightly different, as he joins the Leafs multi-layered management group led by Shanahan, who already started the roster teardown with the Kessel trade to Pittsburgh.
The former Devils GM will take some time to familiarize himself with the Leafs roster, but he has never been shy about pulling the trigger on a deal.
With a roster that includes Phaneuf, Joffrey Lupul, Tyler Bozak, James van Riemsdyk, Nazem Kadri, Jake Gardiner and Jonathan Bernier, the question is not if the Leafs will make a major transaction, it is when will it happen and who will it include.
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