Kids key to improvement

By STEVE SIMMONS -- Toronto Sun Danny Markov didn't look this smooth and fresh when he put his skates away last June. His body was bruised and bent. There were stitches beside his eyes and cuts almost everywhere you looked.
But yesterday, he walked not far from Tomas Kaberle in the Maple Leafs dressing room, neither looking like a warrior: Two young, soft, cleanly shaved faces, two legitimate reasons to believe this Toronto team actually can be better than it was a year ago.
"I like this team,'' said Mats Sundin, the perpetually optimistic captain. "I like the depth. I like the goaltending. I like the way everybody is contributing.''
Then he stopped to talk about the young guys, not mentioning them by name, but the inference was obvious.
Curtis Joseph should be Curtis Joseph this season. Sundin will be Sundin. Steve Thomas will be Steve Thomas. But the real change in this Leafs team, the real jump in quality could come from Markov and Kaberle. Markov could become one of the most complete defencemen in hockey if he continues on his rapid rise.
Kaberle has gifts that cannot be taught, a sense with the puck, a low panic threshold, a sporting vision that isn't easily explained.
Markov is 23, Kaberle just turned 21 in March: Defenceman Bryan Berard is between them in age.
"With another year of maturity for the young guys that should make us better,'' Sundin said.
And that may be reason No. 1 for advancement but that isn't the only reason.
This is Sergei Berezin's third NHL season. He floated around and scored 25 goals in his first year, specializing in frustrating coach Mike Murphy. Last year, he had 37 goals. This season, another jump is anticipated if not expected.
In a league in which scoring has become a premium, Berezin is blessed with a comprehension of how it's done. He moves laterally the way few in his game can, able to shoot the puck accurately while speeding from side to side. If he can learn to appreciate that an assist is as valuable as a goal, he could jump all the way to NHL all-star.
There is that much talent there.
The biggest surprise at camp, though, has garnered little attention. He is Yanic Perreault, he of the contract dispute and wavering expectations. But ask the Leafs players who impressed them most at camp and they'll whisper Perreault's name.
He wins faceoffs, kills penalties, makes plays, does little things. Without speed and without great big shoulders, he knows how to win. This is his first full season with the Leafs: He makes the team stronger.
So, one day, will Nikolai Antropov, who has left for the St. John's farm team -- for who knows how long. Antropov made a large splash at this, his first, Maple Leafs camp. He almost made the club. His stay in the American Hockey League could be brief. But he provides the team something it hasn't had before.
Last season, when the Leafs sought offensive help from St. John's, their choices were Lonny Bohonos and Ladislav Kohn. Bohonos now plays in Winnipeg; Kohn in Anaheim.
Antropov will be in Toronto soon enough, maybe on a permanent basis before this season ends.
Of course, any hope of Leafs improvement -- or even staying where they were -- is predicated on the signing of Dimitri Yushkevich. They have no one who can play his game, no one even close.

GANDLER FACTOR
With three youngsters on defence along with the uninvolved Alexander Karpovtsev and the aging and undersized Sylvain Cote, the 25 minutes a game that Yushkevich fills cannot be replaced by inferior players. Yushkevich should have been signed by now, and probably would have been, with anyone other than Mark Gandler representing him. Darius Kasparaitis had to fire Gandler to get a deal done with the Pittsburgh Penguins. The Leafs wouldn't mind a similar ending to this most uncomfortable situation.
While uncertainty remains over the Yushkevich contract, there is a different kind of uncertainty with centre Alyn McCauley, who hasn't played since suffering a concussion in March. Who knows what he will bring to the Leafs, if anything? Who knows if he can play?
He wasn't part of the Leafs' playoff run and can't be factored into their plans now until he can show he still is capable of playing in the NHL. But what if he does come back? If we're looking at this the way so many of the Leafs are -- optimistically -- if McCauley returns to form, how much stronger does that make the Leafs?
A Stanley Cup contender again?
"I think this city expects every year to win the Stanley Cup,'' Sundin said.
Winning? I don't think so. Contending? Definitely.

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