Toronto Maple Leafs made some splashes in the first day of the free-agent frenzy. They first picked up rugged right-winger Wayne Simmonds. Wayne gives the Leafs something they so badly need; his signing addresses the lineup's lack of toughness. I am trying to put it politely without calling them pushovers. You remember the commercial "hefty, hefty, hefty; wimpy, wimpy, wimpy?
Well, the Leafs were leaning toward the latter. Simmonds also strengthens the bottom six. Having a skilled winger in the bottom six will help an already explosive offensive lineup.
The second signing, of ex-Flame Defenceman TJ Brodie, is huge, addressing the need to help Mr. Reily. Brodie is a solid all-around number two dman and is an excellent puck handler who will get the puck out of the zone. He has excellent vision, which makes him an asset on the powerplay. The Maples Leafs have lacked an experienced defenceman to settle down the mistakes in the defensive zone. TJ fills the void of another powerplay specialist; he will only make the powerplay more explosive with another option back at the point.
I was thrilled to see the Maples Leafs re-sign veteran Centre Jason Spezza. Jason adds the strong influence of a leader in the dressing room. He accepts his role and is willing to do anything to help the team. Jason is A solid fourth-liner who lifts the team when he out on the ice. He helps the second powerplay be more successful. And he fills in with the odd goal on the powerplay, adding another scorer to the bottom six.
The Leafs are a little over the cap right now. You can bet there are more trades to come. They need one more physical defenseman, which leads me to watch for another trade coming down the ice.
Randy
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