The Future and JFJ

is is the most critical Maple Leaf road trip of the season.

That is, until the next one.

The nature of the NHL standings is that when a team, any team, can reel off five or six wins in a row, suddenly they can vault upwards.

Phoenix has been doing it for two weeks. Tampa Bay, tonight's Leaf opponent, and Nashville are doing it right now.

The Leafs, of course, almost did it last year when, after being all but left for dead, they put on a last season spurt while riding the goaltending of J.S. Aubin and were actually part of long-shot playoff discussions.

That said, the Leafs go into their game with the Lightning in 11th place (21st overall) with the possibility of plummeting further if Pittsburgh and Washington can come up with victories.

The Leafs could wake up in 9th place in the Eastern Conference Wednesday morning.

Or 13th.

Neither position, needless to say, is a playoff position, and given that the club is on an 82-point pace going into the Lightning game, a playoff berth is looking increasingly remote.

So what could that mean for the future of GM John Ferguson?

At the 22-game mark this season, you'll recall, Ferguson was moved from lame duck status to semi-lame duck status.

The geniuses upstairs at MLSE who weren't sure he was the guy in September suddenly realized he was the guy in October, and picked up his option for the 2007-08 season on the basis of a good start to this campaign.

But given that most believed Ferguson had to get this team into the playoffs to survive, where does he stand now if that doesn't happen?

Well, he could get canned, although he would argue injuries wrecked the Leaf season, which might be partially true.

But a likelier scenario is that he would retain his job going into next season, but without the multi-year extension he covets, putting him back into lame duck land.

He'd have a wobblier hold on the job than Tony Romo.

Moreover, there would be no year added to his contract next season, which would put him squarely on the firing line during the season and out of a job if the Leafs couldn't make it into the '08 Stanley Cup playoffs.

Hardly a warming scenario for Leaf fans, that change at the top of the hockey organization would only come after a third set of missed playoffs.

Then again, maybe the Leafs wipe up on this current trip against the Lightning, Panthers and Penguins, storm their way into the '07 post-season and by the summer JFJ is king of the world.

It could happen.

After all, who thought by Jan. 16 the Predators would have the most victories in the NHL?

Comments

[Remi ST.Germain]

Toronto Maple Leafs should have never hired someone like Ferguson to be their manager.He has no experience and is the worst manager that the Leafs ever had.Whoever is responsible for hiring him should get his or their heads examined.It is his fault that the Leafs are really struggling to make the playoffs.A big mistake waswhen Ferguson signed Raycroft and got rid of Telvquist.Telly is playing great with Phoenix much better than Raycroft is playing with Toronto.Ferguson should be fired immediately and replaced by an experience person who knows how to improve a team.

[Dan]

To further Remi's comment -- one should only have to look at their corporate cousins -- The Raptors -- and see what the arrival of Bryan Colangelo has done for not only the immediate term -- but also the future..... and I hate basketball.

[Jamie]

I completely disagree.
Why should the leafs have made the playoffs this year?
Why is it John's fault if they don't?
They are very very young team with an eye towards the future.
There are no overage vets hanging on to get beat in the 1st round of the playoffs.

This is a young team that is getting better every week. Next year we'll add a few pieces and get better, sneak in the playoffs and then in 2009 we should have a team to recon with.

It's called rebuilding and this is the first time the Leafs have tried it in a decade. Play the young guys, free up some cash. It takes time but that's how you build a contender.

I'd give JF another year and see what he does with additions before cutting him off.

[Robert]

Actually, I did think the Preds stood a good chance at having the most wins by season end. Considering that they play in the easiest division in the game, with 24 games against complete jokes, it was going to be either them or Detroit with the most wins by season end. Buffalo and Anaheim have too many games against quality opponents to reach that mark. Only Atlanta has a fairly decent shot at challenging the Preds/Wings.

[Ankur Arora]

yah it would be best for the leafs just to bomb this week and fire JFJ right now and build this thing from the bottom. It time for leafs to realize its not going to happen, with this roster for a while. Trade Sundin, get a high draft pick, prospects. Then trade McCabe, who is an overpaid bum and got some qualitys young guns for him, Tucker another prospect or quality pics prospect. Raycroft combined with Sundin, u can get ride of him and again start looking, cuz what is the use to just make the playoffs, we want a cup...

[Joe D'Agostino]

I recall that JFJ was the Assistant GM and not the GM in St. Louis. Was he being groomed or was he just not good enough?

If MLSE is concerned about playoff success they will put people before profits.

[Sean]

JFJ may be a smart guy and a very good GM some day, but Toronto is not the right situation for somebody to be learning on the job. This is one of the toughest jobs in sports -- go out and get a seasoned pro to do it. If that means raiding another team a la Fletcher, then go ahead and do that.

Of course, that might mean spending some of the millions that MLSE saved on the salary cap. Sorry, dumb idea, never mind.