2008–09_Toronto_Maple_Leafs

2008–09 Toronto Maple Leafs season

This article or section contains information about a future hockey season.
It is likely to contain information of a speculative nature and the content may change as the event approaches and more information becomes available.

2008–09 Toronto Maple Leafs

Division TBD Northeast

Conference TBD Eastern

2008–09 record TBD

Home record TBD

Road record TBD

Goals for TBD

Goals against TBD

General Manager Cliff Fletcher

Coach Ron Wilson

Captain TBD

Alternate captains TBD

Arena Air Canada Centre

Average attendance TBD

Team leaders

Goals TBD

Assists TBD

Points TBD

Penalties in minutes TBD

Plus/Minus TBD

Wins TBD

Goals against average TBD

The 2008–09 Toronto Maple Leafs season will be the franchise's 91st, and their 81st as the Maple Leafs. The Leafs will look to qualify for the postseason for the first time since the 2003–04 season.

Contents:	Regular season – Playoffs – Player stats – Awards and records - Transactions Roster - Draft picks – Farm teams – See also – References

Offseason

A challenge for the Maple Leafs will be to find a General Manager. Brian Burke was a favorite for the Leafs vacant position but decided to stay with the Anaheim Ducks. Burke was not given permision to talk to the Leafs about their vacancy by Ducks owner Henry Samueli. ^[1] Burke had one more year left on his contract as the general manager of the Ducks and those close to him say he was interested in the Leafs' job.

On May 7. the Leafs fired head coach Paul Maurice, along with two assistant coaches after missing the playoffs in back-to-back seasons^[2]. On May 8th, the Leafs asked the Vancouver Canucks permission to speak to Dave Nonis about hiring him for a position with the club. ^[3]

In mid-May, there were rumours that Gretzky was in the running for a position with the Maple Leafs. Gretzky responded to the rumours linking him to the Toronto Maple Leafs by stating that his focus was on the Phoenix Coyotes and developing their young talent. ^[4]

On June 10, Ron Wilson was hired as the new head coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs. Wilson was fired in May by San Jose after the Sharks lost to the Dallas Stars in the second round of the NHL playoffs. Wilson has also coached the Anaheim Ducks and the Washington Capitals. The former U.S. college player spent parts of three NHL seasons with the Leafs in the 1970s. ^[5]

The Toronto Maple Leafs hired Al Coates as their player-personnel director on Monday, June 16. ^[6] Coates comes to Toronto after spending the previous six seasons with Anaheim. Coates has spent more than 30 years in pro hockey and has been part of two Stanley Cup-winning teams ('07 with Anaheim and '89 with Calgary). The move perpetuated speculation that Anaheim Ducks general manager Brian Burke will become the Leafs' GM once his deal with the Ducks expires in 2009, but this speculation is premature. New head coach Ron Wilson played hockey with Burke at Providence, but this is largely considered moot and mildly coincidental.

Former NHL star Joe Nieuwendyk was named as general manager Cliff Fletcher's special assistant on July 8. ^[7] While playing for the Florida Panthers, Nieuwendyk gained experience as a special consultant to GM Jacques Martin.

Throughout the offseason, the Maple Leafs have been involved in numerous transactions. On June 24, the Toronto Maple Leafs put Goaltender Andrew Raycroft and Forward Kyle Wellwood on waivers. ^[8] Also, Interim GM Cliff Fletcher informed Darcy Tucker that he is to be bought out of his three-year contract, however it will not be official until June 25th. ^[9]

The Maple Leafs bought out goaltender Andrew Raycroft on June 28th, making him eligible for free agency on July 1st. When the free agent signing period began on July 1st, the Toronto Maple Leafs signed on defenceman Jeff Finger, goaltender Curtis Joseph to back up current starting goaltender Vesa Toskala and former Dallas Stars forward Niklas Hagman. Another transaction was made on July 3rd, as Cliff Fletcher was busy again as he traded for former Montreal Canadiens forward Mikhail Grabovski in exchange for the rights to Greg Pateryn and a 2nd round draft choice in 2010. The Leafs also resigned forwards Dominic Moore, John Mitchell, and Greg Scott.

Regular season

Divisional standings

Northeast Division	GP	W	L	OTL	GF	GA	PTS
Montreal Canadiens
Ottawa Senators
Boston Bruins
Buffalo Sabres
Toronto Maple Leafs

Conference standings

Eastern Conference	GP	W	L	OTL	GF	GA	PTS
Montreal Canadiens *
Pittsburgh Penguins *
Washington Capitals *
New Jersey Devils
New York Rangers
Philadelphia Flyers
Ottawa Senators
Boston Bruins

Carolina Hurricanes
Buffalo Sabres
Florida Panthers
Toronto Maple Leafs
New York Islanders
Atlanta Thrashers
Tampa Bay Lightning

x - clinched playoff spot, y - clinched division title, z - clinched best conference record, e - eliminated from playoff contention, * - division leader

Game log

2008–09 Game Log

October

November

December

January

February

March

April

Schedule

Playoffs

Player stats

Skaters

Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/- = Plus/Minus; PIM = Penalty Minutes

Player	GP	G	A	PTS	+/-	PIM

Goaltenders

Note: GP = Games Played; TOI = Time On Ice (minutes); W = Wins; L = Losses; OT = Overtime Losses; GA = Goals Against; SO = Shutouts; Sv% = Save Percentage; GAA = Goals Against Average

Player	GP	TOI	W	L	OT	GA	SO	Sv%	GAA

Awards and records

Records

Milestones

Regular Season
Player	Milestone	Reached

Transactions

Trades

June 19, 2008	To Toronto Maple Leafs Jamal Mayers	To St. Louis Blues 3rd round pick in 2008
June 20, 2008	To Toronto Maple Leafs 5th overall pick in 2008	To New York Islanders 7th overall pick in 2008 Two conditional picks
July 3, 2008	To Toronto Maple Leafs Mikhail Grabovski	To Montreal Canadiens Greg Pateryn 2nd round pick in 2010
July 14, 2008	To Toronto Maple Leafs Ryan Hollweg	To New York Rangers 5th round pick in 2009

Free Agents

Player	Former team	Contract Terms
Curtis Joseph	Calgary Flames	1 year, $700,000
Jeff Finger	Colorado Avalanche	4 year, $14 million
Niklas Hagman	Dallas Stars	4 year, $12 million

Player	New team
Darcy Tucker	Colorado Avalanche
Andrew Raycroft	Colorado Avalanche
Kyle Wellwood	Vancouver Canucks
Scott Clemmensen	New Jersey Devils
Andy Wozniewski	St. Louis Blues

Claimed from Waivers

Player	Former team	Date claimed off waivers

Draft picks

Toronto's picks at the 2008 NHL Entry Draft^[10] in Ottawa, Ontario.

Round	Pick	Player	Position	Nationality	Club Team
1	5	Luke Schenn	(D)	Canada	Kelowna Rockets (WHL)
2	60 (from Pittsburgh)	Jimmy Hayes	(RW)	United States	Lincoln Stars (USHL)
4	98	Mikhail Stefanovich	(C)	Belarus	Quebec Remparts (QMJHL)
5	128	Greg Pateryn	(D)	United States	Ohio Junior Blue Jackets (USHL)
5	129 (from Phoenix)	Joel Champagne	(C)	Canada	Chicoutimi Sagueneens (QMJHL)
5	130 (from Florida)	Jerome Flaake	(LW)	Germany	Kölner Haie (DEL)
6	158	Grant Rollheiser	(G)	Canada	Trail Smoke Eaters (BCHL)
7	188	Andrew Macwilliam	(D)	Canada	Camrose Kodiaks (AJHL)

Roster

As of July 10, 2008. [1]

view • talk •

Goaltenders
#	Player	Catches	Acquired	Place of Birth
35	Vesa Toskala	L	2007	Tampere, Finland
—	Curtis Joseph	L	2008	Keswick, Ontario

Defencemen
#	Player	Shoots	Acquired	Place of Birth
7	Ian White	R	2002	Steinbach, Manitoba
8	Carlo Colaiacovo	L	2001	Toronto, Ontario
15	Tomas Kaberle – A	L	1996	Rakovník, Czechoslovakia
24	Bryan McCabe – A	L	2001	St. Catharines, Ontario
31	Pavel Kubina	R	2006	Čeladná, Czechoslovakia
36	Anton Stralman	R	2005	Tibro, Sweden
—	Jeff Finger	R	2008	Houghton, Michigan
—	Jonas Frogren†	L	2008	Falun, Sweden

Forwards
#	Player	Position	Shoots	Acquired	Place of Birth
9	Mark Bell	LW	L	2007	St. Pauls Station, Ontario
10	Alexander Steen	C	L	2002	Winnipeg, Manitoba
11	Jiri Tlusty	LW	L	2007	Slaný, Czechoslovakia
13	Mats Sundin‡ – C	C	R	1994	Bromma, Sweden
14	Matt Stajan	C	L	2002	Mississauga, Ontario
19	Dominic Moore	C	L	2008	Thornhill, Ontario
21	Jamal Mayers	RW	R	2008	Toronto, Ontario
22	Boyd Devereaux	C	L	2006	Seaforth, Ontario
23	Alexei Ponikarovsky	LW	L	1998	Kiev, Ukrainian SSR
48	Jeremy Williams	C	R	2003	Regina, Saskatchewan
50	Darryl Boyce	LW	L	2007	Summerside, PEI
54	Mikhail Grabovski	C	L	2008	Potsdam, East Germany
55	Jason Blake	LW	L	2007	Moorhead, Minnesota
80	Nik Antropov	C	L	1998	Ust-Kamenogorsk, Kazakh SSR
—	Niklas Hagman	LW	L	2008	Espoo, Finland
—	Ryan Hollweg	LW/C	L	2008	Downey, California

† Contract under dispute

‡ Unrestricted free agent

Farm teams

The Maple Leafs continue their affiliation with the Toronto Marlies of the American Hockey League.

References

v • d • e Toronto Maple Leafs

Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Franchise	History • Players • Coaches • GMs • Seasons • Records • Draft picks • Award winners

Arenas	Mutual Street Arena • Maple Leaf Gardens • Air Canada Centre

Affiliates	Toronto Marlies • Reading Royals

Rivalries	Maple Leafs-Canadiens Rivalry • Battle of Ontario

Other	Toronto Blueshirts • Toronto Arenas • Toronto St. Patricks • Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment Ltd. • Carlton the Bear

Stanley Cup Champions (13)	1917-18 • 1921-22 • 1931-32 • 1941-42 • 1944-45 • 1946-47 • 1947-48 • 1948-49 • 1950-51 • 1961-62 • 1962-63 • 1963-64 • 1966-67

Division Champions (5)	1932-33 • 1933-34 • 1934-35 • 1937-38 • 1999-00

v • d • e

Toronto Maple Leafs seasons

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Bold indicates Stanley Cup Championship