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But after a game like last night it just pains me to think about the future of this team without a solid stock of drafts. Im getting to the end of my rope. There is only so much a fan can endure. Burke says this team is built from the net out, that his style is to build a strong defence. But look at the games this year. They let in way too many goals. Scoring isnt the issue. They can score 3 or 4 goals in a game, but when you are letting 5 or 6 get past you its jsut impossible for these young guys to score enough to win. Their defence has been too painful to watch. Something has to give. I am starting to question the ability of Wilson to inspire his team.

The reason I raised the point of the Kessel trade is due to the fact that the Leafs have been beaten up for trading a potential first overall pick, but I really think Boston has been given a free ride over this trade. Everyone is going on about how good this trade is from Boston’s perspective because they are a good team that is going to get a high pick, but Boston has not actually been very good. They were good with Kessel but are clearly missing his goals. Kessel can be a gamebreaker, but you are right Mike, he does need to have the right players around him. However, finding established players through trades and free-agency is an expensive appraoch to rebuilding your team, while drafting quality players allow a team to manage their cap a little easier.

I also do not agree with the rush to judge the winners and losers of trades. It was a bit ridiculous to see the Leafs declared huge winners of the trade with Calgary based on the fact that they won their first games since the trade, and Calgary lost their first game. I actually like the Flames/Leafs trade for both teams.

With respect to Kessel, I dont think anyone expected him to be a quick fix. Toronto needs more than his scoring touch alone to have a winning club. Moreover, you can’t expect much from him unless he’s got quality people around him, and Stajan wasn’t that guy. Yeah he’s struggled recently, but he is a young player with lots of potential, who’s expected to be a part of the team for years to come, and we just dont know what the future holds for the Leafs. And of course, two frist round draft picks is a high price, especially going to a rival team. But there is always uncertainty with drafting players. There have been lots of guys drafted early on who just never produced as expected.

So although the immediate future is a little bleak, we need to keep the bigger picture in perspective. So in all, I question whether its fair to really assess this trade until we see just how Kessel develops on the team or just how the draft picks pan out for Boston. I dont think we will have a clear idea of the impact of this trade, and the one’s made Sunday, for a couple of seasons. The trades on Sunday will only be deemed a success if the Monster can learn and develop under JSG, or if Phaneuf can capture that spark he had out of the gate and if he develops how people expect him to. As far as the Leafs are concerned, I’m holding off on weighing in over whether these trades made them winners or losers, because we just dont know.

Kaberle will be gone at some point. Either by the deadline or before the draft when his no-trade cause is not apart of the equation. It would just be nice if this team had some more draft picks in order to find some young talent up front, but there are some decent players to be had through trades, and I think Toronto will be active. Ponikarovsky wil be traded befor the deadline and he should get at least a second round pick in return.

I really expected a lot more out of the Packers, but maybe I was just buying into the pre-season hype. Aaron Rodgers has been getting hit hard early in the season, and if the offensive line play does not improve then I can’t see him finishing the season. I also thought their defense would play a lot better, but it hasn’t really come together for them yet. Having said that they are still 2-1, and if they can put it together this week, and beat the Vikings then they will be looking pretty. I not ready to give up on them yet, but they have to show it to me this week.

And are the Packers good? They squeaked by the Bears in a game where everyone agrees the Bears were just terrible. They lose to an improved Cincy team but at home and they beat a Rams team that everyone is going to beat. What do you think?