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There are two things the Toronto Maple Leafs do that never surprise me. The first is to take seemingly high quality prospects and turn them into mediocrity or worse. The second is signing or trading for old men nearing the ends of their careers (often times ones who were previously on the team!)

Oh and losing. So three things I guess.

Let’s examine the first two though. How is it that the Leafs can take talented young players and turn them into garbage so rotten and slimey that it seeps out the corners of the bag? It’s really amazing. Matt Stajan scored 85 and 94 point in his last two years in the OHL. He initially looked very promising with the Leafs, but somehow they managed to break him down. Don’t forget his two friends on the “future hopes” list, Alex Steen and Kyle Wellwood. Another two guys who showed possibilities of stardom, but eventually sucumbed to the Leafs thirst for draining talent. How about Nik Antropov. Can you believe it! This is his big breakout year! How sad.

That’s just the current team too! Let’s not forget such names as Mike Johnson, Alyn McCauley, Jason Smith, Fredrik Modin and more who just a decade or less ago had their talent forcably taken from them by the merciless Leafs. The only saving grace is that these players all went on to be solid contributors to other teams. So while no one ever recovers completely, players can recover, if only partially, when moved to other teams.

Maybe it’s not that the Leafs destroy young talent, but that they’re just so inept at acquiring it that we’re led to believe young players are more than they are as to keep the fans happy? These players, once on a team that has shown no ability to develop youth, inevitably fade into mediocrity until they’re moved to a team that knows how to bring out the underlying skill.

Whatever the reason all I know is that the Leafs keep squandering talent while teams like the RedWings are drafting Datsyuks and Zetterbergs in the umpteenth rounds. I guess the mediocrity we see on the ice is shared by the scouting team.

Ok, ok, so they can’t draft or develop young guys, but surely they make the right moves to bring in the established talent in the league right? Of course. If you consider Phil Housely, Ron Francis and Doug Gilmour skating with walkers established talent. The Leafs love, and I mean love, bringing in guys who are so far past their expiry date that there’s mould growing on them. It’s almost a given that when trade deadline time comes, and the Leafs really need a boost, you can rest assured knowing that they’ll get Wendel Clark, whatever price it takes! Doug Gilmour played one freakin shift in his last hoorah with the Leafs. What the hell was that? Phil Housely grazed for a year and then left.

And why do they always bring back guys they previously dumped off? Toronto could have Roberto Luongo in net right now if that draft pick hadn’t been dealt off to re-acquire Wendel Clark. Recent trades have been made for previous dumpoffs such as Yannick Perrault and Travis Green. Travis freaking Green!

The best part of all is some fans don’t realize that the Leafs make these moves just so they can say “we tried”. Some people actually think that these are moves that will help the team move towards their impossible dream of winning the Stanley Cup.

Let’s face it folks, the Leafs outgoing players often go on to solid careers, and in many cases win Stanley Cups soon after (remember Larry Murphy? No? Jamie McCoun? No? Mattheiu Schneider? No?). Incoming talent on the other hand, is all but doomed to a stint of career low stats and fat loss columns. Because the undeniable fact is, the Toronto Maple Leafs are a talent vampire for the young and a comfotable graveyard for the decripit.

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