Just what does this team think it is?

TORONTO- What do you call a player who hits, fights and scores, gets under the other teams skin, and comes back to the bench dripping with sweat-and sometimes blood? If you answered the type of player Maple Leafs General Manager Ron Dubin loves, you would be correct. The young, brash GM didn't make the splash he did last year when he signed superstar and cornerstone player Marian Hossa, but has addressed a multitude of positional weaknesses with players who arent afraid to get their noses dirty.

 After a year in which players were miscast in offensive roles (see: Stajan, Matt), benched (see: Lapierre, Maxim) or should have been developing in the minors (see: Connolly, Brett), Dubin has added pieces to the team that fits a certain mould. "We're not the biggest team in the league, but we will certainly be the hardest working." Dubin said in a media scrum earlier this week.

 After addressing the lack of depth on within the bottom six forwards by adding Daniel Paille through free agency and acquiring Tom Pyatt in a deal that saw Lapierre go to the Islanders, Dubin set about creating depth in the crease and on the blueline. Stalwarts Francois Beauchemin and Brian Strait are all that remain from a very porous defence last season. Stephane Robidas was acquired in a trade for picks and prospects and Jan Hejda, Tyson Strachan and Steve Montador round out the top six, all signed in free agency. In net, the team said goodbye to future hall of famer Martin Brodeur as they moved him to Arizona. Rumour has it that Brayden Holtby is being groomed as the future number one, be it this year or next. That all depends on what the team does with veteran Nicklas Backstrom, who is rumoured tobe on the market as there is expected to be a few teams needing a goalie before the puck drops in the fall.

 Even with all the improvements this off season, the Leafs still lack a true number 1 center to play in between Hossa and James Van Riemsdyk. GM Dubin has promised to find someone who can fit the role, but we've hears the same song and dance all last year. Even though the hype around the much improved Leafs is much more prominent in Toronto, the talk of making the playoffs will ride on if our young GM can land that stud center.