Maple Leafs' season opening roster

The final cuts have been made and the Leafs season opening roster looks like this:

Goalies: J.S. Giguere, Jonas Gustavsson

Defence: Luke Schenn, Dion Phaneuf, Mike Komisarek, Tomas Kaberle, Francois Beauchemin, Carl Gunnarrson, Jeff Finger, Matt Lashoff (IR), Brett Lebda (IR)

Forwards: Kris Versteeg, Tyler Bozak, Phil Kessel, Nikolai Kulemin, Mikhail Grabovski, Clarke MacArthur, Colby Armstrong, Tim Brent, Frederik Sjostrom, Colton Orr, John Mitchell, Mike Brown, Mike Zigomanis.

For fans I think there are some surprises here. But this is the season opening roster and the lineup will surely change over the course of the season. One thing fans need to realize is that it is impossible to put together your best lineup on paper. If that were the case the Chicago Blackhawks would have retained much more of their Stanley Cup winning roster. The salary cap is a factor but so are years of service. Players with less than 3 years of service do not have to clear waivers if they are sent to the minors. As well, your youngest players will benefit more from playing 20 minutes with the Marlies than being a bubble player with the Leafs with only 5 minutes of ice time each night.

So here is the surprise moves:

• Tim Brent over Nazem Kadri – Kadri is not really suited for as a shutdown line centre. Brent is a career minor leaguer who is occupying a roster spot until Kadri is ready to jump to a more prominent spot on the roster.
• Frederik Sjostrom over Luca Caputi - Sjostrom is an excellent penalty killer and well suited for a shutdown line. Caputi is not. Caputi has the potential to be a decent power forward in the league but right now the left wingers on the top 2 lines are Kessel and Kulemin.
• John Mitchell over Christian Hanson – Mitchell has to be put on waivers before he can be sent to the Marlies and Hanson does not. Leafs need to be absolutely sure that he won’t be fulfilling his potential before giving up on him even though the fan base is ready to move on. Remember Steve Sullivan.
• Jeff Finger – Fans are wondering why Finger’s salary isn’t being buried in the minors. Well Brian Burke believes that this is a form or cap circumvention and is punishing a player for earning too much money. We shall see how long Burke can afford to be doing the honourable thing.
• Mike Zigomanis – Zigomanis is a 29 year old marginal player who Coach Wilson can sit in the press box without worrying about hurting his development. He is an excellent faceoff specialist and is more than happy hanging around the Leafs instead of riding the bus in the minors.