Wow.  I’m going to need full rosters for every team before I watch a single game next season.  Jagr’s gone, Naslund, Hossa, Blake, Cujo, Boyle, Avery, McGrattan, Laraque, Huet, Weight, Ruutu, Ryder, Tucker, Raycroft, Hagman, Streit, Redden, Campbell, Kolzig, Lalime, Theodore… all playing in new towns next year.  And the list is growing.  And these aren’t just fourth liners.  Some of these guys are perennial all-stars.

It looks like Toronto isn’t trying to compete this year.  The crappy thing is that part of the problem is that Mats hasn’t decided what he’s going to do next year.  His delay means that Toronto has to hold onto the purse strings just in case they need to spend $7 or 8 million bucks on him.  Of course, this is only adding insult to injury.  The sensible thing to do for everyone involved would have been for Mats to waive his NTC back in the spring to allow the Leafs to get better.  As it stands, the Leafs have made no big additions and could very well be headed for the basement (not that last year was a great showing).

Montreal, on the other hand, has added some toughness in Laraque and has retained most of its young core that made them one of the best teams in the regular season.  I’m not going to say that Laraque makes the Habs a Cup contender but it’s definitely a step in the right direction.

We’ll see.  Maybe Sundin will go to the Habs.  I think that would officially make him public enemy number one in Toronto.  Can you imagine if he brought the Cup back to Montreal in his first year after 13 years in Toronto?  I can.