Will Jeremy Williams finally stick with the Leafs?

Williams, who scored in each of his first three NHL games, over three NHL seasons, has never been able to stick with the Maple Leafs, until now...

Drafted 220th overall in the 2003 NHL Entry Draft by the Maple Leafs, Williams, 24, has yet to play a full NHL season in Toronto. Over four seasons, he has only played 23 games, notching seven goals and one assist after yesterday's 3-2 OT win against the Devils. This year, Williams has three goals and one assist in only three games (he's already +4), after the Leafs recalled him on December 8th when Niklas Hagman went down with concussion-like symptoms.

Known for his offensive abilities, Williams is a great playmaker who has a knack for putting pucks in the net. Williams has also really improved his acceleration and top-end speed in recent years, which has helped him even more offensively. He also seems stronger on his skates this season, especially with the puck.

The Regina native has seen about 15 minutes of ice-time per game this season, an increase over his previous call-ups, which is a good indication that he will likely stick for the whole 2008-2009 season, especially when newly-appointed Leafs' GM Brian Burke starts getting rid of some veterans with hefty contracts (Kaberle, Kubina, Blake for instance).

It's a make or break season for Williams, who at 24, might not figure in the Leafs' plan anymore if he can't step up and produce consistently in the NHL.

A look at Brian Burke's probable moves before the trade deadline

During Saturday's press conference to the Toronto media, Brian Burke all but confirmed that the Leafs are officially out of the Sundin sweepstakes. “I don’t think we fit his profile as a team,” said Burke. He referred to the 2-year $20 million offer from the Vancouver Canucks, putting the emphasis on the fact that Sundin's comeback is not about money, but about playing for a contender.

Therefore, if Burke is not looking to add Sundin to his team, this means he will likely try to unload some veterans.

Look for Burke to start moving players in January as he will study his team in the next few weeks to see which players fit his style of players: physical, gritty, tough, hardworker, reliable defensively, etc.

Goaltenders: Curtis Joseph is having a tough season, posting a 3.95 GAA and a woeful .861 save percentage. He hasn't won any game yet for the Leafs. The veteran goaltender might be asked to hang his skates to give some seasoning to Justin Pogge, the Leafs' goaltender of the future.

Defensemen: Tomas Kaberle could also be on the move, provided that he lifts his no-movement clause, by the trade deadline. Kaberle, a great puck-moving defenseman, would become a hot-commodity in the NHL, espcially around the trading deadline, as there won't be many offensive defensemen available this season, save for Jay Bouwmeester. Signed through 2010-2011, Kaberle is quite affordable at $4.25 million/season. Pavel Kubina could also be traded around the deadline, but his high salary $5 million/season makes him hard to trade.

Forward/defenseman Ian White was also on the trade market at the beginning of the season, but his versatility proved to be quite useful when the Leafs' defense got depleted by injuries (Van Ryn, Finger, Frogren).

Forwards: Alexei Ponikarovsky and Nikolai Antropov have never lived up to their expectations even though they are big forwards loaded with skills. They never took advantage of their large frame to get free in front of the opponents' net.

The 6'4'', 220 lb, Ponikarovsky has never reached 50 points over his 8-year career with the Leafs. His best season has been 45 points in 2006-07. This season he is on pace for 57 points, so it would be a good time to trade as his valuewill never be higher.

The 6'5'', 230 lb, Antropov had a career-year last season, notching 26 goals and 56 points in 72 games. Antropov, who is on pace for 64 points this season, is set to become an unrestricted free-agent at the end of the season. He could very well become a highly-sought after player at the trade deadline for a team that is looking for depth and size at centre.

Brian Burke would also really like to trade inconsistent Jason Blake, but his $4 million/year bloated contract makes him nearly impossible to move. With three years left to Blake's contract after this season, expect Brian Burke to buy him out unless he starts producing all-star caliber numbers on the ice. Blake has only 10 points in 19 games this season.

Another candidate to be traded earlier to this season would have been Matt Stajan, but his stellar play (20 points in 22 games) after being a healthy scratch given him some kind of breathing room. It's the first time Stajan is logging big minutes as the Leafs first-line centre and he has responded well. His affordable salary at $1.75 million per year also makes him an attractive player for Burke.

Who would you move? For draft picks, prospects or younger established players?

Senators beat Leafs in shootout

OTTAWA (AP)—The Ottawa Senators kept it simple in a shootout against Vesa Toskala and the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Rather than trying to deke the goalie, Jason Spezza and Daniel Alfredsson beat Toskala with shots to give Ottawa a 2-1 victory on Thursday night in a game overshadowed by the Maple Leafs reaching a deal with former Anaheim GM Brian Burke.

Spezza scored on the Senators’ first attempt.

“He plays a little deeper than most guys so that was kind of my reasoning behind shooting,” Spezza said.

Alfredsson scored on Ottawa’s third attempt to give the Senators their second straight victory.

“Toskala stood on his head but Auldie’s just been rock solid for us,” Spezza said. “He hasn’t allowed too many goals, his numbers are great, he’s playing with a lot of confidence and he seems to be a guy who’s really seeing the puck well and playing really well for us right now.”

Mike Fisher returned to the Senators’ lineup and opened the scoring early in the first. Kulemin drew Toronto even moments later.

Toskala had a great game as he stopped 34 shots to help the Maple Leafs earn a standings point despite extending their losing streak to five (0-3-2).

Ottawa outshot Toronto 35-26 overall, including a 5-0 margin in overtime as Toskala came up with a pair of big stops on Fisher in the final seconds of the extra period.

The Maple Leafs ended a team-record 17-game stretch without being outshot.

The Senators hadn’t played since their 4-1 win over the New York Rangers on Saturday ended a 0-4-2 skid.

Fisher, who missed two games because of a knee injury, got credit for his third goal of the season 3:54 in when his centering pass toward Shean Donovan went into the net off Toronto defenseman Tomas Kaberle’s skate.

Kulemin tied it 59 seconds later when he tapped in Mikhail Grabovski’s pass through the crease for his fourth goal.

Ottawa left wing Dany Heatley showed his frustration after Toskala stopped his slap shot 12 minutes into the middle period when he skated over to the left side and swung his stick, slamming it hard against the boards.

“It was a pretty good chance and I didn’t really get all of it,” Heatley said.

Jason Smith and Dominic Moore dropped the gloves at the end of the second period.

Notes

Maple Leafs RW Andre Deveaux made his NHL debut. Deveaux, recalled from Toronto of the AHL on Wednesday, had six goals and two assists in 13 games with the Marlies this season. … Donovan left the game in the third period because of an upper-body injury. He didn’t return.