NHL Season Preview: Toronto Maple Leafs

While other sites are previewing "30 teams in 30 days," we decided to take advantage of the extra time before the season to bring you all 30 previews over the next three weeks. We're counting down in reverse order of finish from last season in each conference every weekday from now until October 3. Look for an Eastern Conference preview every morning and a Western Conference preview every afternoon. Click here to read them all.

Who's In: Jeff Finger, D (UFA, Col); Mikhail Grabovski, F (trade, Mon); Niklas Hagman, F (UFA, Dal); Ryan Hollweg, F (trade, NYR); Curtis Joseph, G (UFA, Cal); Jamal Mayers, F (trade, StL); Nikolai Kulemin, RW ('06 draft), Luke Schenn, D ('08 draft); Mike Van Ryn, D (trade, Fla)

Who's Out: Scott Clemmensen, G (UFA, NJ); John Pohl, F (UFA); Andrew Raycroft, G (UFA, Col); Bryan McCabe, D (trade, Fla); Mats Sundin, C (UFA, ???); Darcy Tucker, F (UFA, Col); Kyle Wellwood, F (waivers, Van); Andy Wozniewski, D (UFA, StL)

What's Changed: Oh, you know, same old Buds really: New GM, new head coach, team captain off on a free agency soul search, several veterans bought out or traded for scrap, Jeff Finger is worth $3.5-million a season and the demand for tickets has dried up in Toronto.

Just kidding on the last one.

Interim GM Cliff Fletcher went scorched earth on his roster, dumping anything resembling an overpaid veteran and handing the reins to, well, whoever was left. The team's No. 1 centre will be either Nik Antropov or Alex Steen, and Jason Blake and Tomas Kaberle are the only players on the entire roster to have ever totalled 60 points in a season.

Minus Mats Sundin, the offence is in trouble, while the crew on the blueline and in goal is relatively the same. The biggest difference in the goals against department, however, will come from the coaches, as new bench boss Ron Wilson is well-known for his stingy systems.

The youth movement will also see rookies Nikolai Kulemin and Luke Schenn take a run at a roster spot, with Kulemin - a potential Calder candidate - all but guaranteed to play on the big club and Schenn unlikely to make that jump just yet.

Who's On The Hook: No one, really. Fletcher has undersold this group to the point that a dead last finish probably wouldn't result in anyone being cast out and stoned - which is remarkable in this market.

Not only is a playoff spot not expected, it's actually be written out of the budget entirely by the bigwigs at MLSE. The only way there'll be hell to pay from the fan base is if they blow another chance to truly tank and pickup a top draft pick (which is a distinct possibility under Wilson).

Where They'll Finish: If they can get a few goals to go in, Toronto's probably not nearly as bad as advertised. Making the playoffs is quite unlikely, but they've certainly got company in the "awful" department in the Eastern Conference.

On paper, with a solid netminder and a defence that has some capable veterans, the Leafs will probably fall into the 10-13 range in the Eastern Conference and pick in the top seven or eight spots in the 2009 entry draft.

Unless they, you know, Tank for Tavares.

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NHL Preview 2008

Washington Capitals
Alex Ovechkin will need to be a valuable franchise asset on and off the ice to get the season going for the Capitals.

Bruce Bennett, Getty Images

Tampa Bay Lightning
The Lighting have Barry Melrose as their coach, the No. 1 pick from the summer's entry draft, and countless other boosts to their franchise.

Doug Benc, Getty Images

Carolina Hurricanes
Injuries have plagued this team last season and it looks like the story will be the same this season. The Hurricanes luck will have to improve for them to have a successful season.

Gerry Broome, AP

Atlanta Thrashers
Atlanta finished the 2007-08 season 22nd in the league in goals scored and also gave up the most goals in the NHL. Obviously, things have to change for this struggling team.

Dave Reginek, Getty Images

Florida Panthers
Armed with a new coach, the Panthers will have to improve from last season, as they allowed the second-most shots on goal and finished 20th in goals scored.

Eliot J. Schechter, Getty Images

Buffalo Sabres
The Sabres have missed the playoffs the last two seasons despite being in the Conference Finals for two straight years prior, the biggest challenge for this team is re-building the chemistry that they had a few years ago.

Dave Reginek, Getty Images

Montreal Canadiens
The Canadiens are hoping that a couple minor tweaks and the experience of last year's run will combine to make this year's team all the more dangerous.

Richard Wolowicz, Getty Images

Boston Bruins
A big boost for this team will be a healthy Patrice Bergeron..

Andre Ringuette, Getty Images

Toronto Maple Leafs
If they can get a few goals to go in, Toronto is probably not nearly as bad as advertised. Making the playoffs is quite unlikely, but they certainly have bad company in the Eastern Conference.

Dave Sandford, Getty Images

Ottowa Senators
The Senators have a big question mark at defense and Jason Smith is wearing the target on his back.

Bjorn Larsson Rosvall, SCANPIX / AP