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It’s Toronto Maple Leafs day on PHT

Phil Kessel

Toronto Maple Leafs’ Phil Kessel reacts after Philadelphia Flyers goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov saves his shot to secure a 1-0 Flyers win during a shoot out of an NHL hockey game in Toronto on Saturday, March 10, 2012. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Chris Young)

AP

Welcome to our offseason initiative — 30 teams in 30 days.

From July 16 until Aug. 14, we’ll be dedicating each day to a new team by recapping the offseason and looking ahead to 2012-13.

There will also be a series of posts looking at key stories, player profiles and burning questions regarding each squad.

Today, that squad is the Toronto Maple Leafs.

For a good portion of the 2011-12 campaign, it looked like the Toronto Maple Leafs would be a serious contender for a playoff spot. However, a late-season collapse resulted in the firing of head coach Ron Wilson and sent Toronto all the way down to 13th place in the Eastern Conference.

By far their biggest move over the summer was the trade of Luke Schenn to the Philadelphia Flyers in exchange for James van Riemsdyk. There’s been some talk that van Riemsdyk might shift to center and serve on a line with Phil Kessel and Joffrey Lupul.

The biggest question surrounding Toronto right now is their goaltending. As things stand, the Leafs are poised to go into the season with youngsters James Reimer and Ben Scrivens as their netminding duo. Both have promise, but Leafs GM Brian Burke might still attempt to hedge his bets by signing a veteran backup or even acquire starter Roberto Luongo.

There was also a report that the Leafs had interest in Jonathan Bernier, although he’s not exactly a safe bet either.

The Leafs haven’t made the playoffs since the lockout. Is this the year that changes?

Stay tuned for our extended coverage.