With it being the middle of August, sunny and over 80 degrees(or the high 20's for you Celsius fans), it's hard to comprehend that we are less than a month away from the Leafs rookie tournament in London, Ontario, the second Fan Fest and the opening of training camp soon after.
Until then, significant news involving the Blue and White will be few and far between, but that does not stop this intrepid columnist from pondering some possible things that may happen with the club in the near future.
Previews for the upcoming season are beginning to show up on magazine shelves, which will do their best to predict which teams will be playoff contenders and those who will struggle at bottom of the standings.
It is logical to anticipate the predictions of Toronto not being in the playoff mix with the trade of top scorer Phil Kessel, but some pundits may find it tough to predict the club to finish as low as last season with some talent still on the roster and with the addition of Mike Babcock.
Toronto will not be as bad as Buffalo, Edmonton and Arizona were last season, but the dynamic for 2015-16 will not be the same as the race to guarantee franchise cornerstones Connor McDavid and Jack Eichel.
The Leafs (at least on paper) appear to be in a group with New Jersey, Carolina and Arizona that will have the best odds of drafting 17-year-old American winger Auston Matthews. Buffalo and Edmonton appear to have upgraded their talent base enough to not be at the bottom of the standings another year (but many have said that about the Oilers the last couple years and they continued to wallow in the basement).
Teams like Boston and Vancouver could be the mix as both had questionable off-seasons and have concerns with aging core players (Zdeno Chara and the Sedin Twins).
You think there is euphoria when the #BlueJays are winning. Imagine what it will be like when this team does. #Leafs pic.twitter.com/x3rn3hzwPX
— Michael Augello (@MikeInBuffalo) August 15, 2015As busy as Toronto has been this summer with tweaking their roster, the new additions were mostly depth players signed to short-term contracts who will likely be flipped for draft picks or prospects before the trade deadline. along with veterans Joffrey Lupul or Dion Phaneuf if they have a good enough season and the opportunity presents itself.
New Jersey appears to be beginning the process of moving out veterans synonymous with the Lou Lamoriello era and promoting young prospects, which means some growing pains. Other than swapping backup goalies and adding defenseman James Wisniewski, Carolina did not make any major upgrades and did not resolve the uncertain contract status of Eric Staal and Cam Ward.
The Coyotes appear to be fully in Matthews mode, as their major offseason moves were to reacquire players who left Arizona via trade or free agency the last few seasons, like Antoine Vermette, Boyd Gordon and Zbenyk Michalek.
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The situation in Arizona this season will be fascinating, as many believe that nothing can be done to save the Coyotes from moving to Seattle, Portland, Kansas City or parts unknown, but their last, best chance to make a go of it in the desert may be selecting a potential savior in Matthews at the 2016 Draft in Buffalo next June.
With the new rules going into effect, Arizona finishing 30th overall would give them only a 20 percent chance of selecting first and drafting as low as fourth. The Matthews factor would appear to setup a scenario where GM Don Maloney might be willing to trade up to #1 to get the Scottsdale, AZ native.
For rebuilding clubs like New Jersey, Carolina and Toronto, it would take a great deal of courage to trade the top draft pick if they were fortunate enough to win the lottery, but clubs that need to add multiple pieces to complete their puzzle might be willing to move down two or three spots if Max Domi or Dylan Strome were included in the exchange. Sounds far-fetched from a Leafs perspective, but consider this. Domi is a product of the London Knights(which means that Leafs Director of Player Personnel Mark Hunter knows him inside out) and an evaluation of his NHL future will be more accurate after he gets an opportunity to play premium minutes with the Coyotes this season.
Strome was likely to be Toronto's pick at #4 instead of Mitch Marner if Arizona had not selected him, based on the stipulations made in the Leafs trade offer to Columbus on Draft Day and would fill the need for a big, skilled top line center.
A lot of things would have to fall into place for this scenario to play out, but that type of deal would fit the Leafs organizational blueprint of acquiring as many skilled players as possible.
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