45 years of Maple Leafs frustration: 2007-08

In an effort to return to the playoffs in 2007–08, the Leafs made two significant moves during the off-season. The first, was to acquire goaltender Vesa Toskala, along with Mark Bell from the San Jose Sharks for three draft picks. Toronto also signed free agent Jason Blake to a five-year, $20 million contract. Blake topped the 40-goal mark for the first time in 2006–07. Both moves failed miserably for GM John Ferguson Jr. and added to his legacy of failures. The Leafs finished 12th in the East, 11 points out of a playoff spot.

After giving up a top prospect for Andrew Raycroft, Ferguson was desperate for a starting goalie that could carry the Leafs into the playoffs. He gave up 1st, 2nd and 4th round draft picks to San Jose for their backup goalie in addition to having to agree to take on Mark Bell's contract. Toskala started out alright but his game deteriorated likely due to the pressure in Toronto and the heavy workload that comes with being a starting goalie. His fate was sealed with the Leafs when in March, 2008 he let a shot from 200 feet get by him.



This was on top of a goal scored by Bryan McCabe early in the season into his own net in overtime. The once star defenseman had struggled considerable post-lockout and the goal put him into the fan's doghouse which became pretty crowded as the season progressed.



On October 8, 2007, newly-acquired winger Jason Blake announced that he had chronic myelogenous leukemia, a treatable form of cancer. He continued playing during treatment and did not miss a game that season. Despite having a very mediocre year he was awarded the Bill Masterson trophy in the offseason. However, the Air Canada Centre crowd slowly turn on Blake as he became one of the team scapegoats.

To add to the already circus environment, in mid-November, 2007, Jiří Tlustý was caught in a scandal when nude photos of him appeared on the Internet. Tlustý apologized for this incident and admitted he made a mistake.

With the Leafs struggling in the Northeast Division, the future of Ferguson's tenure was widely debated after team president Richard Peddie admitted that hiring Ferguson was "a mistake". The Leafs asked former Toronto GM Cliff Fletcher to serve as interim GM early in January. On January 22 it was announced that Ferguson's time with the club had ended, as the board of directors at Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment voted to make a change. Fletcher was named interim General Manager and a hiring committee was formed to find a permanent replacement.

Fletcher's mandate was to clear the table for the GM by trading away veterans for draft picks and prospects. The problem was that all the Leaf veterans has no-trade contracts and refused to move. The group of Mats Sundin, Darcy Tucker, Pavel Kubina, Bryan McCabe and Tomas Kaberle became known as the Muskoka Five because of the country club environment in Toronto. It would take 3 years to move the last of the 5 members.

As a result Fletcher was stuck making minor deals, trading away Hal Gill, Wade Belak and Chad Kilger.