Roger Lajoie operates Triumph Sports Communications, a leader in providing editorial, broadcast and public relations services.

Roger's weekly sports column "The Rog's Rant" is now available here every Monday.

The Rog's Rant

What direction are the Maple Leafs headed in anyway?

It sure was an interesting trade deadline day in the National Hockey League.

There were a total of 25 deals involving 40 players and numerous draft picks on the final day of the NHL’s trading deadline, which almost justifies the day long coverage it received by major sports media. At least the 1,000 analysts who were analyzing had something to analyze, and thank God for that.

I hosted for four hours Tuesday night on The Fan 590 and two hours of that was spent on phone calls from fans with their thoughts on the day. It was fun, because there was certainly a lot to talk about.

There were teams making runs at some playoff success (the New York Islanders, Detroit Red Wings, San Jose Sharks and others), and teams re-building for the future (the Philadelphia Flyers, Phoenix Coyotes, St. Louis Blues and others).

Then there was the Toronto Maple Leafs.

What exactly are the Toronto Maple Leafs trying to accomplish anyway? Are they re-building for the future, or are they making a serious try at a long playoff run? They might answer “both” to that question but in reality the answer is “neither.”

Yanic Perreault is a nice pick-up and a very decent NHL player who is very good on face-offs. He’s also 36 years old in April.

Perreault is a piece to any good team’s puzzle, don’t get me wrong. But he’s not good enough at this stage of his career to make that much of a difference to a borderline NHL team – and the Toronto Maple Leafs are a borderline NHL team at the moment.

The Leafs sent Brendan Bell and a second round draft pick to Phoenix for Perreault. Bell is young, has some potential to get a lot better, and second round draft pick is a good pick for a re-building team.

I get that deal from Phoenix’s standpoint. And if it was the Anaheim Ducks, Buffalo Sabres or any other league powerhouse team adding him as a piece of the puzzle, I’d get it.

But the Leafs? Perreault wanted to return to Toronto as a free agent in the off-season and the Leafs passed. They now give up Bell and a second round pick for him so…they can make a deep playoff run? Sorry, that one is hard to figure for me.

Hate to be harsh about it, but Perreault isn’t that great a player and the Leafs aren’t that good a team for this deal to make sense.

That said, I think for the most part the Leafs have it right. They are keeping their core young players and most of their draft picks, and they are re-signing their own veterans which is always more economical than signing a free agent from another team. I get that.

But dealing away a young player and a second round draft pick for a 36-year-old forward at this stage of the team’s development? I don’t get that. That’s the kind of deal a team close to a title makes, and the team it trades with is the kind of team that is re-building for the future.

The Coyotes qualify as a re-building team. The Leafs do not qualify as a team set to make a run in my opinion (although I like their spunk – most nights that is).

So back to the question – what direction are the Toronto Maple Leafs headed in? Are they re-building or just trying to load up?

I haven’t the faintest idea.  

Comments on The Rant of February 14 on Leaf passion:

“It’s Leaf Nation for sure The Rog – to the point where it’s nuts. The Leafs fans are just as responsible for the team’s plight as the management is.” – John in Etobicoke.

  “As a true hater of the Leafs, let me say about this year’s team’s playoff chances: GOLF LEAFS GOLF!” – Alex in Toronto.

Email your comments to therog@rogerlajoie.com

Other Rog's Rants & Reader Comments

To read Roger's previous Rants, please visit the Rant Archives section of the website.