What Does A Trio of All-Stars Signify for the Toronto Maple Leafs?

(REUTERS/Mike Cassese)

By Lukas Hardonk (@LukasHardonk)

This year’s National Hockey League All-Star festivities are already brewing up a storm and they haven’t even begun yet.

By now, everyone is aware of what transpired during the voting process; four Ottawa Senators players─Daniel Alfredsson, Erik Karlsson, Jason Spezza and Milan Michalek─were elected to play in the game.

With the game and everything that comes along with it happening in the city of Ottawa this year, not many people were thrilled to see that more than half of the players voted to the game came from the home team, other than citizens of Ottawa. That wasn’t all, though.

The two other players voted in─Tim Thomas and Dion Phaneuf─also play for Northeast Division teams. Just like the reaction that came from fans who don’t cheer for the Senators, this didn’t exactly please many people either.

Let’s focus in on one of those players specifically, though: Toronto Maple Leafs captain, Dion Phaneuf. At 26 years of age, Phaneuf will be making his third career appearance at the All-Star Game. Not only does he have the honour of participating in the weekend’s festivities, but he is also making post-lockout history.

Having been elected to play in the game, Phaneuf will become the first Maple Leafs defenceman to represent their team in the All-Star Game other than Tomas Kaberle for the first time since the strike that cancelled the entire 2004-2005 regular season and playoffs.

Also since the lockout, the Leafs have only had one player participate in the All-Star Game each year until now. Up until the full list of All-Stars was announced, the only two Leafs to represent the team in the game post-lockout were Kaberle and Phil Kessel. Now, with three Leafs set to play, that streak has come to an end.

This may seem like no big deal to many. So what? The Leafs have three players going to the All-Star Game. Well there’s more to it than just a silly little streak of bad luck coming to an end.

We’ll start off by taking a look at the Leafs’ success post-lockout. Everyone should know by now how things have gone for the Buds over the past six seasons; they failed to make the playoffs with each attempt and finished within five points of eighth just twice over that stretch. Why? Well, it’s really quite simple.

For much of that time, the Leafs had been playing with what some might call and AHL roster. Names like Boyd Deveraux, John Pohl and Travis Green didn’t exactly spell playoffs. While they were certainly more bottom-six type players, they did not play at the same level as those who currently skate on the Leafs’ bottom two lines.

Those who did get more ice time, such as Matt Stajan, Jason Blake, Alexei Ponikarovsky and others, certainly were not the sort of players who would regularly go out and score big goals.

The Leafs now have those kinds of players. Playing on the top lines are the likes of Kessel, Lupul, Mikhail Grabovski and Tim Connolly, while players such as Colby Armstrong, Mike Brown, David Steckel and Joey Crabb─who has now proven to be a solid every day NHLer─man the third and fourth units.

On the back-end are Dion Phaneuf, John-Michael Liles and Luke Schenn, all of whom bring their own personal element to the position, whether it be physicality, size, or strong offensive abilities.

In other words, the Leafs now have a strong core to build around for the future. And unlike when Darcy Tucker and Mats Sundin were the centre blocks to the Maple Leafs in earlier seasons, none of those listed above are ridiculously overpaid or close to retirement.

So, what does this whole deal about three Leafs set to play in the All-Star Game mean anyways? Well, continuing on with the point about having a solid core of players to keep on board for years to come, it signifies growth.

While there is certainly no guarantee that the Maple Leafs will qualify for the post-season for the first time since the 2004-2005 lockout, it appears as though they just might. Currently two points outside of eighth, the Leafs are close to being in playoff position.

There is no doubt that Lupul, Kessel and Phaneuf have been large contributors; they sit first, second and third on the Leafs roster in points respectively. Not only that, but Phaneuf is having one of his best seasons as a Leaf, while Lupul and Kessel have been showing signs of improvement all season long.

It’s possible to go on and on about how these three have helped the Leafs this season, but that isn’t the point. Instead, the point is that the Leafs are becoming a better team each week and, for the first time in a long time, have been in the thick of a playoff battle all season long.

Only time will tell if the Maple Leafs are actually the team they have shown to be during the first 47 games of the regular season. For now, though, Joffrey Lupul, Phil Kessel and Dion Phaneuf appear to have this team going in the right direction. They were only rewarded for it by being named to the NHL All-Star Game.

Follow Lukas on Twitter @LukasHardonk for more Maple Leafs coverage.