There is no doubt that John Tavares is a solid hockey player, and 134 points in 67 games with the Generals certainly shows that. The real question is how solid of a player is he. Will Tavares develop to be a franchise player in the way that Crosby and Ovechkin have in recent years? The general consensus is that he will develop to be an NHL superstar, but how many teams are willing to bet a full season on that?

If there is one that can afford to do it, it is the Toronto Maple Leafs. There are a number of reasons for this:

1) The fan base doesn’t stop paying if they lose

Toronto fans live and die for the Maple Leafs. The funny thing is, they don’t care if the team is winning or losing! The Air Canada Center is jam packed 100% of the time, with the lower bowl generally consisting of corporate people who typically don’t care about the team anyway, and getting tickets in the upper bowl is so difficult that the majority of fans can’t go anyway! Regardless, the Leafs haven’t made the playoffs in a number of years, and the fans are demanding change. The 2008 draft brought in prospect Luke Schenn, who may live up to his nickname “The Human Eraser”, but not for a couple years.

2009 would be a perfect year for the leafs to blow the season. Pull a Pittsburgh or a Washington and do brutal for the year, get the top pick, and run for the next 5 or 6 years with them.

This is assuming that Tavares will be as good as we think.

2) The Leafs are young and developing already

The Leafs as a team are very young already. Aside from a few aging (and overpaid) veterans, the leafs can basically be seen at the Ricoh Collusium in a very similar uniform (i.e. the Toronto Marlies of the AHL)

Here is a look at some of the Marlies players who had stints with the leafs (or the other way around!)

Bates Battaglia
Robbie Earl
Kris Newbury
Ben Ondrus
Jiri Tlusty
Andy Wozniewsky
Scott Clemmenson
Staffan Kronwall

Add in Justin Pogge & Luke Schenn and you have a pretty good base of a team, most likely starting in 2010-2011. Stajan, Steen, & Poni should all be developed and good leaders around this time as well.

Now add John Tavares in the mix. The right player can do wonders for your team, (Just look at Crosby… dead last to Stanley Cup Finalists in how many years?)

In my opinion, the Leafs NEED this. End the streak by blowing this season. On the off chance that they don’t win the 1st pick in the lottery, there is still a chance of locking up Victor Hedman, and there is nothing wrong with that.

Besides, does it really matter if you come in 17th or 30th? No playoffs is no playoffs, no matter how you slice it!