The Calgary Leafs

Got to wonder what Darryl Sutter was watching this season when he watched the Maple Leafs.

First he trades to get Matt Stajan, Ian White, Nik Hagman and Jamal Mayers. Then, he makes a deal with Anaheim today to acquire Vesa Toskala, ostensibly to be Miikka Kiprusoff's backup.

That's a quarter of the Calgary roster now inhabited by players who didn't make the Leafs any better earlier in the year. Strange.

Otherwise, the numbers of deals are increasing, if not the quality of players involved. The most intriguing today is undoubtedly the one that went down between Phoenix and Colorado, with the Coyotes acquiring forward Wojtek Wolski for forwards Kevin Porter and Peter Mueller.

Wolski and Mueller, not that long ago, were youngsters seen as cornerstones for their respective franchises. Now they've been moved, just as Dion Phanef was moved this year by Calgary.

People get hung up on first round draft picks and good youngters, but there's never any guarantee that good, long-term professionals will emerge from either.

Comments

[Stéphane Savoie]

That last comment seems to be a premonition regarding the Phil Kessell trade....

[Willis]

Hey Cox.

Just a quick thought, but maybe they did make the leafs better.

Hard to say how bad they might have been otherwise. Or good.