[cferneyh]

How bout you cfern, think they should keep Mats or make some serious moves?

Before they consider making any player moves, the first thing that needs to be done is to replace Ferguson. And I don't know who would be the best bet to replace him, but if I hear "Neil Smith", "Craig Button" or "Glenn Healey" one more time I may just give up on hockey altogether. But I don't like the idea of JFJ making any trades of significance, given that his ability to identity talent is clearly lacking, and then some.

Additionally, whoever does come in is going to be in a very difficult spot. The Leafs simply have too many untradeable contracts - McCabe's, Kubina's, Tucker's, and Blake's. I was impressed Gainey was able to dupe Chicago into taking Samsonov's contract, but how many sucker GMs are there out there (especially since Doug Maclean is unemployed)? I suppose one option is just identify the worst of the lot and buy them out, but then with those buyouts on the books they'll be hardpressed to go the Philly rebuilding route (throw crazy money at a couple of high end free agents), and the other approach - suck for a long time and get high draft picks - suggests that the team actually be good at drafting, which is something the Leafs have never been accused of.

I'd hate to have Mats go. I really would. But I'm increasingly thinking this is his last year no matter what, and I think that the whole reason he signed a one year deal was because he was expecting this. He said all the right things at the beginning of camp, but I bet deep down he knew they were in deep, deep trouble.

Plus, looking at the teams with cap space left, I'm not sure where he'd be willing to go. And with the parity this season, I'm finding it difficult to determine who the real contenders are (outside of Detroit and Ottawa).