Let the Rebuild Commence

Lots of news this week in Leaf Nation, and we will get to all of it. The Leafs have now lost 22 out of their lasts 25 contests which has brought the Leafs faithful into speculation of what the team should do going forward. Most people would agree that it is time to rebuild the club by trading most everyone on the roster and build a new team through the draft.

Having said that, a report came out earlier this week that Leafs president Brendan Shanahan got permission from the MLSE board to commence with a total rebuild. Since hockey is a business, Shanahan needed the approval of a rebuild from the owners because a rebuild can affect their financials. Shanahan has a vision and he believes you need to get worse before you can get any better. A typical rebuild will probably take 3-5 years to draft young prospects and develop them into a cup contending team. All the leagues top teams including the Chicago Blackhawks and Los Angeles Kings have been through rebuilds drafting franchise players like Drew Doughty and Jonathan Toews. The first of many trades for the leafs followed this Sunday.

On Sunday, the Leafs traded much sought after unrestricted free agent Cody Franson, and feisty depth player Mike Santorelli to the Nashville Predators for 1 first round pick, prospect Brendan Leipsic, and veteran centre Olli Jokinen. The first round pick gives Toronto two picks in the upcoming draft. Although it will be a late first round pick from Nashville, the Leafs are going the route of a rebuild. Mike Santorelli has been a inexpensive asset for the Leafs this season, but contract talks were going nowhere. Brendan Leipsic is a young gritty skilled player, who cancels out Mike Santorelli. Many fans in Leafland scratched their head when they acquired 37-year-old Olli Jokinen. Jokinen has struggled this season, being a healthy scratch for Nashville on multiple occasions. The truth of the matter is that Nashville wanted to dump Jokinen as him going to Toronto had to be part of the deal. It is almost certain that Jokinen wont be apart of the Leafs future plans, and he is an unrestricted free agent at the end of the year and the Leafs will let him walk. In an ideal scenario, the Leafs will flip Jokinen to a playoff team and will probably take any return on him.

Many believe this is the first of many trades coming. It seems almost no one is untouchable on the Leafs roster including elite sniper Phil Kessel, and team captain Dion Phaneuf.