Having added eight new players, the biggest goals facing the Maple Leafs in training camp will be figuring out where those players fit in and making sure that they do fit in.
Remember, last season the Leafs made a similar overhaul, but when the season was done GM/coach Pat Quinn admitted it was a much longer process fitting in the new players and developing team chemistry than he had first thought.
The biggest areas to be sorted out will be the first two lines, in particular who will play right wing with captain Mats Sundin and Gary Roberts. The thinking is newcomer Mikael Renberg will go there, with Alexander Mogilny working on a second line with Robert Reichel and potentially Shayne Corson.
In addition to Reichel, Mogilny and Renberg, new faces with a good chance of making the team include goaltender Mikael Tellqvist, defensemen Karel Pilar and Anders Eriksson, center Travis Green and possibly winger Chris Murray.
While the team has made a lot of moves in an effort to add skill to go with the grit it added last season, it remains to be seen whether this group can come together and whether the Leafs have gotten better, or simply different. . . .
Tie Domi will play most of the exhibition season, then sit out the first eight games of the regular season, his penalty for a cheap shot on New Jersey's Scott Niedermayer last spring. . . .
Center Nikolai Antropov, who will likely become a fourth-line center, has added 10 pounds, presumably of muscle. . . .
The Leafs must hope that Sundin, who signed a lucrative new deal, plays to form, or better. They also must hope that goaltender Curtis Joseph, who is in the final year of his contract, isn't bothered by the stalled negotiations. If either doesn't perform, the Leafs are in trouble.
MR. CRUCIAL
Defenseman Tomas Kaberle, 23, is the only unsigned roster player and is threatening to play in the Czech Republic this season. Kaberle has been offered roughly $1 million and is seeking twice that. He led the defense is scoring with 45 points last season and is the guy the Leafs refused to part with in the Eric Lindros trade talks with the Flyers.
Kaberle is a key guy on a blue line that is not overly talented, though the Leafs have added a ton of potential replacement bodies. Still, Kaberle is arguably their best defenseman and they will miss him a lot if he doesn't play, especially after the Leafs failed to find a high-profile free-agent defenseman. None of this is good for a team that had defensive troubles last season.
MR. BREAKTHROUGH
Tellqvist is the organization's top prospect. At 21 years old and coming off two Swedish league championships, Tellqvist is tabbed to replace Glenn Healy as Joseph's backup to Joseph. He is clearly the goaltender of the future. If Tellqvist isn't ready to even back up at this point, the Leafs likely will have to deal for a replacement. If he plays to form, it could impact on the Joseph talks.
