Throughout the month of August, PHT will be dedicating a day to all 30 NHL clubs. Today’s team? The Toronto Maple Leafs.
After missing out of the playoffs for a franchise-worst seventh consecutive season, the Toronto Maple Leafs entered the 2013 campaign with a relatively new ownership group, a new GM in Dave Nonis, and the same starting goaltender.
Despite months of speculation that Roberto Luongo would come to Toronto, netminder James Reimer was given a chance at redemption after his rough sophomore campaign and he took advantage of it. With a 2.46 GAA and topnotch .924 save percentage, Reimer was one of the main reasons the Toronto Maple Leafs finally ended their playoff drought.
Of course, he didn’t do it alone. Even with Joffrey Lupul missing most of the season, the Maple Leafs still excelled offensively thanks to Phil Kessel, newcomer James van Riemsdyk, and the rise of 22-year-old forward Nazem Kadri.
Toronto faced off against the Bruins in the first round and fell behind 3-1 to Boston in the series. Still, they fought back to the point where they had a commanding 4-1 lead near the midway point of the third period in Game 7. Ultimately, they left the crowd at Boston’s TD Gardens ecstatic and Leafs fans in shock by allowing the lead to slip away.
That dramatic 5-4 overtime loss is how their season ended and it’s what hangs over their head as they prepare for the 2013-14 campaign.
Offseason recap
The Toronto Maple Leafs made use of their compliance buyouts by getting rid of Mike Komisarek and Mikhail Grabovski’s contracts. Grabovski took the news hard and reacted by calling Leafs coach Randy Carlyle an "[expletive] idiot.”
Despite those maneuvers, the Maple Leafs are in a tough cap position after acquiring Dave Bolland from the Chicago Blackhawks, re-signing Tyler Bozak to a five-year, $21 million contract, and inking unrestricted free agent David Clarkson to a seven-year, $36.75 million deal.
Additionally, Toronto traded for goaltender Jonathan Bernier to battle Reimer for the starting job. Bernier comes with a $2.9 million annual cap hit and the Maple Leafs agreed to retain $500,000 in cap space when they sent Ben Scrivens and Matt Frattin to Los Angeles in the same trade.
Toronto now has a little over $4 million in cap space left, according to Cap Geek, but they still need to re-sign restricted free agents Cody Franson and Kadri.
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