Grabovski To Be Toronto Maple Leafs Top Centre?

The Toronto Maple Leafs wrapped up their preseason with a less than impressive record, but there are still plenty of reasons for Leafs fans to be optimistic about the future of their team. One of those is the performance of Mikhail Grabovski. The Maple Leafs acquired Grabovski this summer in a trade with Montreal for a 2nd round draft pick. It's a risky move to trade away a high draft pick during a time in which your team is supposed to be rebuilding, but Maple Leafs GM Cliff Fletcher seems to have been rewarded in taking such a risk. So far, it looks like Grabovski has all the attributes a team like the Leafs would hope to gain from a 2nd round pick-and possibly more. He is young (only 24), fast, and he has enough offensive potential to be a top line scorer for the Maple Leafs well into the future. Although some critics have called into question his work ethic and attitude during the time he spent in Montreal, Grabovski was clearly one of the hardest working players on the ice for the Toronto Maple Leafs during the preseason.

The numbers he posted for the Maple Leafs speak for themselves. Grabovski tallied 5 goals and 3 assists in 8 preseason games for the Leafs. Obviously, averaging a point per game is an impressive feat, but what is most promising about those numbers is his performance in the final preseason game. He scored a goal and two assists against the Columbus Blue Jackets, who iced almost every player in their starting lineup. By finishing with such an impressive showing, Grabovski is showing the Maple Leafs that his play can get stronger as he settles into a new role with a new team. It appears that there is alot of talent in this young Leafs forward, and the more comfortable he gets, the more it shows. With a lack of proven NHL talent up front, the Toronto Maple Leafs will look to Mikhail Grabovski to produce some much-needed offense this season.

Where the Maple Leafs will place him in their lineup for the regular season is still up in the air. However, there is some speculation that the Leafs will start Grabovski in the role of number one centre-the role left vacant by former team captain Mats Sundin. Given his outstanding performance in the preseason, I would say the chance of this happening is pretty high. The only other player the Maple Leafs have right now who is capable of stepping into that position, is Nik Antropov. However, Antropov has clearly been more comfortable playing on the wing, and if he is to build on his 26 goal total of last year, it might be best to leave Antropov on the outside. After Antropov though, the only other players the Maple Leafs have who might be considered for the job are Alex Steen and Matt Stajan. However, Grabovski has decisively outplayed both of those players this preseason. Steen has had some decent offensive moments, but not nearly as consistently as Grabovski. Stajan, on the other hand, has been practically invisible and hardly looks capable of centering the Toronto Maple Leafs top line. I would be very surprised if we do not see the Maple Leafs place Grabovski in the number one centre role at some point. My guess is, we will see that happen fairly early on in the regular season. One thing is for sure though, the Toronto Maple Leafs are going to give this rising star lots of ice time-something Montreal did not do, and which I believe will be the Habs loss and the Leafs gain.

Toronto Maple Leafs to start Luke Schenn

The Maple Leafs have announced that they have signed defenceman Luke Schenn to a 3 year contract, and will place him in the lineup for the start of the regular season. Schenn was the Leafs number one draft pick in this summer's entry draft. Throughout the course of the preseason, he was easily one of the Maple Leafs top defencemen, and looked much more poised and NHL ready than most people thought he would. Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Ron Wilson was greatly impressed with Schenn's play, enough so to place him on the roster for the regular season opener against the Red Wings. It is not yet known just how many games Schenn will play for the Leafs, as the team can still elect to send him back to the WHL. That decision will likely be made based on his play in the first few games of the season. In my opinion, if he looks good enough to play at the NHL level now, than it is better for his development to leave him in the Maple Leafs lineup. If he is already outplaying seasoned NHL blueliners, than there is nothing more that he can learn if he is shipped back to the juniors. Ron Wilson seems to be adopting that approach, and I wouldn't be too surprised if Luke Schenn plays well enough to earn himself a permanent spot on the Toronto Maple Leafs lineup this year.