New faces Dion Phaneuf and J-S Giguere are set to debut for the blue and white tonight against the New Jersey Devils. Christian Hanson has also been recalled and will play his first stint at the center position in the NHL.
But aside from the game action, the question of "what is next for the Maple Leafs" continues to swirl.
As I mentioned before, the Maple Leafs will have to decide on a few players who are free-agents this summer. Alexei Ponikarovsky, Wayne Primeau, Lee Stempniak, Rickard Wallin, and Garnet Exelby are all looking to find their place on the team long-term, but with the recent activity on the trade front it seems unlikely any of them will be on the team next season so expect all to be dealt between now and the deadline.
Burke also may be active on the "taking on salary" front, maybe before the Olympics. According to Darren Dreger he has 1.5m to play with, and has two extra contract spots open under the 50 player contract limit. That means the Maple Leafs will be able to take on an expiring contract in the 4m range, or two contracts in the 2m range (at least before he moves anyone else out).
What we could see if maybe a Jonas Frogren for a teams contract dump + a pick. Similar to when the Maple Leafs moved Richard Petiot last season to Tampa Bay in the Kolzig deal. Nothing crazy, but something along those lines.
Expect Burke to be active, but temper expectations that the forthcoming deals will not be as groundbreaking as the ones made on Sunday.
It should be an exciting few weeks until the Olympic break.
