Turning a New Leaf

As we get set for opening night hockey in the MRFHL, one of the most active teams in the offseason has certainly had a roster full of turnover. The Toronto Maple Leafs will kick off tonight at home against division rival Ottawa and theres one number that should stick out to fans who have been following this team since GM Karp took over just a season ago.

That number is 15.

15 represents the number of skaters who will be taking the ice tonight that were not on the opening roster just a season ago. 11 skaters brought in through trade or free agency this offseason alone (Thorton, Tavares, Voracek, Nelson, Couterier, Spezza, Cizikas, Letang, Pietrangelo, Vasilevskiy, and Hogberg), one who was acquired last offseason (Tuch), a rookie set to make their professional debut (Anderson), and two callups looking to make their case to be full timers (Asplund and Lorentz). This leaves a whopping 5 starters from last season in Komarov, Chytil, Toews, Dumoulin, and Pelech. Report has it that captaincy has been awarded this season after veteran and leader Jay Beagle signed with Buffalo in the offseason. Alex Pietrangelo gets  the C, and alongside him will be former and new Maple Leaf Jakub Voracek getting one of the A's, with Brock Nelson getting the second A after showing great leadership in the pre-season.

With all this turnover and talent acquisition be enough for a Toronto team that finished just a game shy of the playoffs last offseason? There will be 82 games to get it all sorted out, and in what many believe to be the tought division in the MRFHL with seemingly 7 playoff caliber teams. It starts tonight against the Senators, with many faithful say:

"Toronto, this time around".