Leafs' Turning Point

January 31st 2010 is one of the biggest days in the new age Maple Leaf's history. The trades that were made today, quick recap below, will shape the franchise for the next 5 years.

Leafs acquire: Phaneuf, Aulie, Sjostrom

Flames acquire: Stajan, Mayers, Hagman, White

Leafs acquire: Giguere

Ducks acquire: Blake, Toskala

The trades are a significant change to the talent model of the franchise. In my opinion, talent models should resemble a pyramid; more role players and few top tier talent players. As seen is Detroit's model from their Stanley Cup winning year.

Sorry for the quality of the pyramids, the paint program leaves much to be desired.

As you can see, the Leafs' talent pyramid is seriously lacking in the upper echelons, when compared to a Stanley Cup winning team. Burke has gone out and found upper tier talent to fill these holes, since finding players of that talent level is quite difficult, he has done a good job. Looking at the players currently in the top three levels for the Leafs (after the trades) Kessel, Phaneuf, Komisarek, Beauchemin and Giguere are newly acquired.

Let's get it straight and understand that I am not crowning the Leafs to achieve much more than their current basement dweller state. I do believe that this is a step in the right direction, as opposed to the Kessel trade.

It would be a fair estimate to say the Leafs will be the lowest scoring team for the rest of the year.

In terms of salary issues, there isn't much worry as Phaneuf's high price tag (6.5 mil) can be handled easily enough and Giguere's 7 million next season can be looked at as a wash since Toskala and Blake combine for 8 million.

For those of you that have read a lot about this trade, I would just like to point out the benefits of having Keith Aulie. Sure he may have 6 points so far in this AHL season, but the 6'6'' defenseman brings a strong physical edge to the game and makes smart decisions. Imagine he was Hal Gill, but without the pylon-like mentality.

Overall, I think Leaf fans should be happy in general today with these moves. Calgary fans however should still be happier, since they still have a legitimate shot at the Division title.

World Junior Wrap

A strong USA team was tenacious and really impressive throughout the tournament to bring home the gold. I know Canadian fans would have loved to win but the Americans did it our way.

They had they training camp and cut players, they played gritty and they had just enough gumption to pull it off. It was an excellent game to watch and will be remembered for a long time. Yes, I agree Canada's Jake Allen wasn't strong in the games that really counted, but neither was his defense - Ryan Ellis in particular was culprit to many offensive zone turnovers. The bottom line is the American's held out for the win and deserved it.

Ok so you all know about Jordan Eberle, Taylor Hall, Alex Pietrangelo and Jerry D'Amico but here are some players that stood out this year that you may not have seen.

Nino Niederreiter (SUI): The only Suiss player in the top 30 in scoring, Nino had an excellent tournament for the surprising Suiss team, posting 10 points in 7 games. As a 17 year old he plays for the Portland Winterhawks of the WHL, with 41 points through 37 games he stands to be a force on the wing for an NHL club in the near future.

Anton Rodin (SWE): The 2009 2nd round draft pick of the Vancouver Canucks was also impressive notching 10 points in the tournament. His speed was on display quite a bit, playing on a line with Magnus Paajarvi-Svensson and keeping up quite well. He is currently playing for Byrnas of the SEL when not playing for the national team. He may not have a huge NHL impact down the line but could develop into a solid 2nd line playmaker.

Tomas Kubalik (CZE): With 9 points in 6 games Kubalik improved significantly over last year's 2 point tournament. He is currently playing in the QMJHL and has an impressive 44 points in 32 games before leaving for the tournament. The 5th round pick of the Blue Jackets may just prove to be a steal in the 5th round. If he continues to develop in North America he will have all the tools to succeed in the NHL.

Danny Kristo (USA): The Montreal Canadiens prospect was visually very impressive with his speed and multiple dismantling of the Canadian defenders. He accrued 7 points in 6 games but more importantly he showed a lot of character and tenacity in his back checking. The near point per game pace he has set thus far with North Dakota is indicative of his scoring ability. Habs fans will have to wait for Kristo though, much like Louis Leblanc, Kristo still has a few years left in the NCAA.

Benjamin Conz (SUI): The goaltender of the tournament faced 284 shots in 7 games (40 a night) managed to keep his save percentage reasonable with .089. He regularly plays for Langnau of the Swiss National League where he has kept a SVP consistent with the likes of former NHLers Tobias Stephan and Jussi Markkanen. Conz will most likely attract some attention from NHL teams this summer and may see consideration in the later rounds of the draft.

Looking towards next year for Canada, they have 5 eligible players: Hall, Ryan Ellis, Brayden Schenn, Jared Cowan and Calvin de Haan. Of those players, expect Hall to be playing in the NHL. They will however be bolstered by late training camp cuts Tyler Seguin, Brandon Gormley and Sudbury Wolves' John McFarland.