MiltonSearch.com blog

“Ok, and welcome to the executive level here in the Air Canada Centre offices. On the left is Raptor GM and President, Bryan Colangelo’s office, and further up the hall, right between that large, non-descript rock and another room we like to call ‘the hard place,’ you will see Leaf GM John Ferguson Jr.’s office.”

– Air Canada Centre tour guide.

That’s right folks. With the confusing moves made by my beloved Leafs this offseason, I can only think they’re stuck in between the proverbial rock and hard place… Don’t blame JFJ though – I think the direction (or quite obviously, the lack thereof) comes directly from the top.

How else do you explain the re-signing of captain Mats Sundin to play yet another year in the centre of the hockey universe – yet another year surrounded by talent inferior to his, even now in his mid-thirties and breaking down quickly? How else do you explain, for the second year in a row, they re-signed the lumbering, fragile, indifferent Kazakh Nik Antropov – the second year in a row they’ve had a chance to walk away from Pat Quinn’s pet project? How else do you explain the trading of two draft picks (one at #13) in a solid draft year for another project (Mark Bell) and a goaler (Vesa Toskala) to replace the one so “valuable” that he was traded for last year and promptly signed to a 3-year contract coming off a year in which he played himself right off the roster of his previous club? Oh, and the new netminder, although good, has never been quite good enough to rise up to the level of NHL starter as of yet, at age 30.

When JFJ arrived, I thought it was a good thing. It was time to end the Pat Quinn era of building teams full of aging, broken-down vets past their prime with their only playoff success largely coming at the expense of the Ottawa Senators. It was time to build up the scouting staff, draft well, cut some fat and begin to re-tool the mighty Leafs into a young, up-and-coming team which would contend seriously and consistently for the next decade. He had just built the Blues into just such a franchise. Stocked with young, feisty, aggressive players, they had been at or near the top of the league for several seasons (conveniently, let’s not mention their playoff failures). Instead, although apparently he’s bolstered the scouting staff, and some Leaf ‘prospects’ have finally found their way onto NHL ice, we’re seeing the same moves that ‘ol cinder-block-head would have made. This can mean only one thing – JFJ is not trusted, and the powers that be are calling the shots. This is not good for JFJ, or the long-suffering, high-paying fans of the Leafs.

When a club misses the playoffs for consecutive seasons, you’d think it would be time to change things up. Something’s not working – get rid of a few guys, make a trade or two to get younger and free up cap space to give yourselves some flexibility – you know, rebuild, re-tool, whatever. JFJ’s moves so far, as well as his one-year contract extension, tell me that he’s scrapped his ‘build for the future’ plan, for the ‘just get into the playoffs as the 8th seed’ plan. He’s trying to save his job. I can’t say I blame him, but what we’re looking at here is probably a carbon copy of last year’s Leaf club. Good, but nowhere near great, just missing the playoffs, some nice improvement from a few younger players, but a weak farm system with no 2007 high draft picks to add to the mix.

With rumours swirling around that the Leafs are trying to acquire a high-profile hockey mind to serve as an executive equal to the Raptors’ Colangelo, it certainly seems as if JFJ’s days are numbered. You would think a Bowman (who’s already denied the alleged Leaf offer), Muckler (a possibility), Lamoriello or Burke (no chance in hell to acquire either of these guys, but they’re the top guys I’m sure Toronto would be after) would either hire their own guy if not take on the GM’s responsibilities themselves. This means that the only option for Ferguson is to halt the re-building in an effort to line the coffers of MLSE with some playoff dough and try to save himself in the process. Trading say, Mats Sundin for young players and picks, and parting ways with a guy like Antropov to clear out space for a younger player to fill don’t do him any good. It’s not going to do the Leafs any good either, unless you consider the financial benefits they seem to be reaping in extending their 40-year Stanley Cup drought, leading along the restless, passionate, eager Leaf Nation by their wallets.

So there the franchise, its GM, and we, the fans sit – right in that office on the executive floor at the ACC. The one down the hall from Bryan Colangelo.

Not a good spot to be.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 27th, 2007 at 8:42 am and is filed under Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.