Penny pinching will cost Leafs

By AL STRACHAN -- Toronto Sun The normal process is to present the problem, then offer the solution. But this time, let's try it the other way around.
The solution to filling the void left by Mats Sundin in the Maple Leafs lineup is not the callup of Nikolai Antropov.
It's not that Antropov isn't a talented player. He is -- and there's no reason to think he won't be a star some day. But he's only 19 and his skating, especially from a dead stop, is not yet up to the calibre required to be effective in the National Hockey League.
Let's face it. If Antropov could give the Leafs everything Sundin gave them, he wouldn't have been posted to their St. John's farm team before the season.
Therefore, the Leafs offence will suffer with Sundin out. And since there aren't many players of Sundin's calibre on the market -- in fact, there are none at all -- it stands to reason that the Leafs will have to face that fact and compensate by playing a stronger defensive game.
Surely, no one expects Antropov to contribute in that regard. The solution to filling the Sundin void, therefore, is to create a strong checking line which will shut down the opposition's big guns over the next four weeks or so.
But the Leafs don't have a true checking centre. Alyn McCauley is a fine player, but he's too much of a two-way threat to be used as a checker. Todd Warriner and Steve Sullivan aren't even natural centres. Both are better on the wing.
Igor Korolev certainly is not a checker, even though he's better than most people think. But, like McCauley, he's too valuable offensively to devote himself to a checking role.
That leaves Yanic Perreault. Surely no elaboration is needed there.
What the Leafs should do, therefore, is call up Kevyn Adams from St. John's and build a grinding line around him.
Adams is an excellent checker, as he showed in last year's playoffs. He was the best-conditioned player in training camp and he's great on faceoffs.
With Garry Valk on the right wing, the Leafs are two-thirds of the way to building the type of line that they haven't had since the days of Peter Zezel, Mark Osborne and Bill Berg. For the moment, at least, Warriner would be the best bet on left wing, but if that doesn't work out, checking wingers -- unlike superstar centres -- can be acquired elsewhere.
So that's the solution. Now, on to the problem.
The Leafs won't follow this course of action because it would upset their precious self-imposed budget, and the teachers' pension plan might not get a sufficient return on its investment.
If their basketball operation had a problem, they could spend $24 million US for a bench-warmer. But the hockey operation is a different story.
At the moment, the Leafs roster is at the 23-man maximum. To call up Adams not only would mean they'd have to boost his salary to the major-league level under the terms of his two-way contract, but they would have to write off a major-league salary.
One of the expendable veterans on a one-way deal either would have to be bought out or paid a major-league salary to play in the minors.
So that's the dilemma the Leafs face. Do they take the right, but more expensive, course of action? Or do they try to compensate for Sundin's absence in the cheapest manner possible, even though it almost certainly will mean they'll lose more games in his absence?
So far, they've opted for the cheap route.

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