45 years of Maple Leafs frustration: 2010-11

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By the time the 2010-11 season came around only 1 player remained from the John Ferguson Jr. era - Tomas Kaberle. An entire roster had been swept away in just 18 months. That's not to say the Leafs were a better, because in fact they weren't. At the Entry Draft, Brian Burke watched the Bruins select Tyler Seguin with the second overall pick that Burke has shipped to Boston for Phil Kessel.

Unlike the previous summer, Burke showed some constraints in pursuing free agents. He decided to sign role players Colby Armstrong and Brett Lebda, both turned about to be major disappointments. He also signed free agent goalies Ben Scrivens out of college and Jussi Rynnas from Finland. His best signing was Clarke MacArthur who released by the Flames after Atlanta had lost an arbitration decision with MacArthur.

The biggest story of the offseason was the naming of Dion Phaneuf as Leafs captain. This was a huge burden on a player who was still trying to find his "A" game but management was counting on him to be a leader on this team.

Burke continued to search for front line players who could play with Kessel, his offensive centre piece. Burke traded Viktor Stalberg and two prospects to Chicago for Kris Versteeg. Versteeg never fit in with the Leafs and before the trading deadline he was traded to Philadelphia for 1st and 3rd round draft picks. The Leafs also traded Tomas Kaberle before the deadline to Boston for 1st and 2nd round draft picks as well as Joe Colborne. The last member of the Muskoka Five had been moved. Burke made one other trade which turned out to be his shrewdest deal while with the Leafs when he traded Francois Beauchemin for Joffrey Lupul and Jake Gardner.

The Leafs continued to be plagued with inconsistent goaltending. Jonas Gustavsson was still having health problems and J-S Giguere was fighting injuries. In January the Leafs called up James Reimer from the Marlies who instantly shone in net and almost carried the team into a playoff spot. He played 37 games and finished with 20 wins, a 2.60 GAA and .921 SAV%. In addition, the line of Clarke MacArthur, Nikolai Kulemin and Mikhail Grabovski all had career years finishing with a total of 80 goals. In the end the Leafs once again finished out of the playoffs, 8 points behind the New York Rangers in 8th place.