Schenn cracks roster

Rookie defenceman Luke Schenn won't be going anywhere, except perhaps condo hunting.

Maple Leafs general Cliff Fletcher confirmed yesterday that the 18-year-old will begin the season with Toronto and will stick around for at least nine regular-season games, when the decision whether to send him back to junior will be made.

The Leafs open the regular season Thursday in Detroit.

Schenn, the club's first-round selection (fifth overall) in this year's NHL entry draft, has played extremely well in six pre-season games. He is a plus five and often has been the club's best defenceman.

"I think he's played very well and he deserves the chance," said Fletcher, adding he'll have Schenn signed to an entry level contract by today.

While some may be surprised the Saskatoon native has cracked the Leafs lineup, his junior coach, Ryan Huska, is not one of them.

In fact, Huska expected Schenn to make the Leafs roster at the start of the NHL season, even though the consensus at the beginning of training camp was that Schenn would be sent back to the Kelowna Rockets when Leafs camp broke.

"We planned this summer that we would be without Luke," Huska said. "But we also believe, if he came back, he would be the best defenceman in the Canadian Hockey League this season. That's the goal we would have set for him."

Huska said he is genuinely happy for Schenn, though it is obviously a blow to his club.

The Rockets, who were eliminated in the Western Hockey League quarterfinals last season, are expecting to have a good year and could have been contenders with Schenn in the lineup.

'WISH HIM WELL'

But now they're starting their campaign missing two veteran blueliners, Schenn and Tysen Dowzak, who is with the Hartford Wolf Pack of the American Hockey League.

"From a selfish point of view, sure we would have liked to have had him back," Huska said. "But for Luke to get a chance to stay with the Toronto Maple Leafs, that's his dream, and we wish him well."

Huska said the Rockets will miss Schenn's leadership on and off the ice.

"He's a guy that everybody on our team wants to be around, and that says a lot about a person's character. He has time for everybody," Huska said.

Leafs waive Mark Bell

The Toronto Maple Leafs have placed Mark Bell on waivers.

The 28-year-old was acquired by the Leafs two summers ago in a deal that brought goaltender Vesa Toskala to town. Last season, in 35 games, Bell recorded 10 points. He could be claimed by another team prior to 3 p.m. on Wednesday, when the teams who have not played a regular season game have to name their rosters — or Bell could end up with the Toronto Marlies of the AHL.

Bell, 28, served a sentence for drunk driving this summer, but hasn’t played particularly well at camp or in the pre-season, having appeared in five pre-season games and recording one assist and was a minus two.

New Toronto head coach Ron Wilson was Bell's coach in San Jose.

The Leafs acquired Bell from the Sharks last season along with goaltender Vesa Toskala, for draft picks, but managed only four goals and six assists in 35 games for the Leafs. His best season was 2005-06 when he scored 25 goals with 23 assists for the Chicago Blackhawks. The St. Pauls, Ont. native is due to earn $2.1 million this season and will become an unrestricted free agent in the off-season.

Meanwhile, after falling to the Columbus Blue Jackets in a shootout Sunday night, the Maple Leafs announced they had assigned five players to the Toronto Marlies of the American Hockey League.

Goaltender Justin Pogge, forwards Robbie Earl and Kyle Rogers and defencemen Richard Petiot and Jaime Sifers will join the Marlies, who open their season against the the Binghamton Senators on Friday.

Wings top Leafs as new top line rolls

DETROIT - Henrik Zetterberg, with the help of linemates Jiri Hudler and Johan Franzen, is authoring his own separation agreement from Pavel Datsyuk.

Zetterberg and Datsyuk have performed wizardry together on many nights in recent seasons, but it looks like the Wings may have finally found enough talent to support the stars on separate lines.

Franzen scored two goals, set up another by Zetterberg while Hudler collected three assists in Detroit's 5-3 exhibition win over the Toronto Maple Leafs Friday at Joe Louis Arena.

"Franzen is real hard in the corner and Hudler can find the open guy all the time," said Zetterberg, who has scored in all four exhibition games he's played. "(Hudler) is real good with the stick and has good vision.

"It's a good line when we work hard."

The Wings were sporadic at best on that front against the Leafs.

They looked at times like a team getting bored with camp and ready to be facing the live fire of the regular season.

Zetterberg and Franzen combined for a power-play goal early in the third to give Detroit a 3-2 lead before the roles reversed on Franzen's game-winning tally with 1:57 remaining.

After Hudler set Zetterberg up for a blast, Franzen crashed goalie Vesa Toskala's crease to cash in the rebound.

"He's so good at seeing openings," Franzen said. "My job is to stay open, create space for them a little bit."

For the game Leafs, the contest's third period highlights the problems they face.

Toronto gave a solid, gritty effort over the final 40 minutes, but it simply didn't have the horses to stay with Detroit down the stretch.

"In the second and third period, we were applying pressure and playing what I like call Leafs hockey now," said Toronto coach Ron Wilson, who saw Jiri Tlusty and Alex Steen score in the middle frame to offset Detroit goals by Franzen and Nick Lidstrom in the opening period.

"It resulted in us playing a great second period."

Zetterberg's power-play goal made it 3-2 early in the third before Toronto's Mikhail Grabovksi beat Detroit goalie Ty Conklin at 9:49.

However, Franzen grabbed the late winner and Valtteri Filppula completed the scoring with an empty-net tally at 19:43.

Leafs' best player quality trade bait should Fletcher test the futures market

Tomas Kaberle is this season's Mats Sundin.

This one's as easy to see coming as Lane Kiffin getting fired. Or Kyle Wellwood being out of shape. Or Paul Godfrey getting the word out that he feels a little hard-done-by as he exits the Blue Jays.

This is not to say Kaberle is the obvious successor to Sundin as captain and team leader, although you could make a case.

It's to highlight the reality that the classy Czech defenceman is the Maple Leafs' most talented player and most marketable asset. He is, therefore, the player that could most help the Leafs accelerate their rebuilding program by being moved for prospects and draft picks sometime before the February trade deadline.

Having failed to realize the mother lode that could have been available for Sundin, mostly because he couldn't be persuaded to waive the no-trade provisions in his contract, the heat should be on GM Cliff Fletcher to make sure the same opportunity isn't missed with Kaberle.

That could be tricky given that Kaberle also has a no-trade clause in his deal, at least a conditional one. He has to grant his approval unless the Leafs make the playoffs. After that, he can be traded any time between the entry draft and mid-August. Ditto for Pavel Kubina.

But the trying nature of the season ahead and probably the following season as well could go a long way to convincing the smooth blueliner that he might find more hockey satisfaction with another NHL club, make him think differently than he did last winter when he was disinclined to go to Philly at the trade deadline for Jeff Carter and a first-rounder.

For the Leafs, after all, this season is shaping up as a placeholder, an 82-game wait until the 2009 entry draft and another top-five selection. Unless, of course, Fletcher decides to trade that pick in an attempt to get back to respectability more quickly.

But if the plan really is to stink this year and pick high in June, it certainly puts Ron Wilson in a no-lose, no-win situation.

There's no pressure on him to produce results in his first season as coach of the Leafs, but a lot of folks will see it as rather counter-productive if the team does better than expected.

Wilson might want to win as many games as possible - what coach doesn't? - but it would be infinitely more helpful for the team to lose as many as possible.

Moreover, if Wilson can coax improved play out of a variety of veterans, it will only make it more likely those players will be moved for prospects and players at the trade deadline.

Along with Kaberle and Kubina, Alexei Ponikarovsky, Jason Blake, Jeff Finger and Vesa Toskala all could potentially be dealt. You know, for something more than nothing, the return for excising Darcy Tucker and Andrew Raycroft from the roster.

Nik Antropov, meanwhile, will be an unrestricted free agent in July and moving him by February sure seems more appealing than signing him to a lucrative, multi-year deal at $3 million to $4 million (U.S.) per season.

So Kaberle, primarily, and Antropov to a lesser extent, become the Leafs to watch this season, but mostly to see if they can enhance their value and thus their appeal on the trade market.

If Leafs management is coldly realistic, there is great opportunity ahead in the next few months to shave a year or more off this rebuilding process by moving proven players for prospects and picks, rather than swapping picks and prospects for more established help, as it's believed Fletcher already has attempted to do.

Injuries leave the door open for Schenn

ST. LOUIS -- The Maple Leafs' worsening injury situation could affect Thursday's opening-night lineup -- and keep Luke Schenn in the picture.

Coach Ron Wilson said yesterday that defenceman Pavel Kubina and winger Nikolai Kulemin could both be out seven to 10 days with knee injuries, as the season kickoff in Detroit approaches.

With Kubina hurting, Jeff Finger already held to one game by a foot injury and none of the other young Leafs defencemen standing out in camp so far, the teenager Schenn technically is where Wilson and management said he needed to be to avoid a ticket to junior, within the top four active defencemen on the team.

Schenn was poised again in his fifth NHL pre-season game here against the Blues and was a big part of the Leafs killing six of seven power plays. He played more than 20 minutes and blocked two shots on an otherwise horrible night for the Toronto defence.

Wilson opined that keeping him with the Leafs and not the WHL's Kelowna Rockets might not be the developmental blunder many have feared.

"If he's ready, he's ready," Wilson said. "When I watch him, I'm looking at how he moves on pucks, how he defends the forecheck and does he get the puck out cleanly.

"If he played in junior he might not get better. He might be beyond junior. You send some kids back and could find out later that he picked up bad habits or didn't try hard.

"But don't read into this that he's on the team. We just have to look at things like that. You have to look at the depth on our team, too. (The injuries) could delay some decisions. I'm playing some guys more than I like, but that's not always a bad thing."

There are 10 defencemen at camp and depending on how long Finger and Kubina are out, the top of the class now includes Tomas Kaberle, Mike Van Ryn, Carlo Colaiacovo and Schenn. But the Leafs aren't giving up on Swedish import Jonas Frogren and still to be heard from are are Anton Stralman, Ian White and Staffan Kronwall. Kulemin's knee injury saw collegiate winger Kyle Rogers back in for a second game, though Robbie Earle hardly was used and was minus-2.

The Leafs have three pre-season games remaining, a weekend home-and-home with the Detroit Red Wings and then Sunday against the Columbus Blue Jackets at the ACC. Last night's starter, Curtis Joseph, was expected to play Saturday, sandwiched around two games by No. 1 Vesa Toskala.

Mitchell impresses coaches

It is one thing to be presented with an opportunity. It is quite another to step up and grab it.

At the Maple Leafs camp so far, with just three exhibition games remaining, the young opportunists have been few.

Luke Schenn has turned heads as a poised 18-year-old defenceman, though he may still return to junior. Mikhail Grabovski, with his surprising toughness on the puck, has shown that management's confidence that he could assert himself as a top-six forward was not misplaced.

Then there is John Mitchell, a sixth-round draft pick from 2003, who is trying to assert himself as a 23-year-old rookie in the NHL. The Oakville native, building on an eight-goal performance in the playoffs for the Marlies last season, has made very few missteps since camp opened. He's consistently been strong in both ends of the ice.

His latest chance to impress came in the spot where coach Ron Wilson still envisions another rookie, Nikolai Kulemin of Russia.

Kulemin has been out with a knee injury so Wilson slotted in Mitchell, out of his natural centre position, on the wing with Grabovski at centre and Niklas Hagman on the other side. Mitchell took full advantage in what was a horrible game for the Leafs at St. Louis on Wednesday. The trio controlled the puck, played a smart cycling game and was very tough along the boards. Hagman and Grabovski both scored while Mitchell contributed two assists with his mix of tenaciousness and creativity.

Now Wilson said it is a line he could see using in the regular season and one he'll look at again in the team's final pre-season games over the weekend, though Hagman will sit out tonight.

"(Mitchell) has shown me a lot," said Wilson. "He has really good speed that showed in all our testing. He's been able to bring that speed to the game. He makes plays. And he plays with a little bit of an edge. He's also versatile. He's a natural centre but because of our depth at centre, if he wants to make the team, at least at the moment, he'll probably have to be playing a little bit on the wing. At his age, beggars can't be choosers."

Mitchell doesn't want to get ahead of himself but he's very pleased with how his camp has gone.

"Ron has given me a lot of opportunity to play on the power play and penalty kill and regular shift. It's great he's letting me do that. When he gives me that opportunity, I can't let it go to waste," he said.

"Every year I've wanted to make this team but some years it's more realistic than others. I just want to keep playing the way I am."

Blues bury Leafs St. Louis 5, Toronto 1

ST. LOUIS - Welcome to the Nightmare on Clark Avenue.

It may have been only an pre-season game at the Scottrade Center Wednesday night, but there were a number of ghoulish overtones for the Toronto Maple Leafs. A horrendous opening period, in which the visitors were outscored 5-1 by the 13:36 mark, allowed the St. Louis Blues an evening of leisure, as they waltzed to a 7-3 victory over the Leafs before an announced crowd of 12,636.

Curtis Joseph may never again wish to set foot in the NHL city he called home between 1989 and 1995. Nor may he be allowed to. The Leafs' veteran goalie was both accomplice to, and victim of, the Blues' early blitzkrieg - getting beaten high to the blocker side on the first two shots, and later fanning on an easy volley that escaped between his pads.

When Lee Stempniak fired a 25-footer over Joseph's blocker at 1:56 of the middle frame, coach Ron Wilson had seen enough. Though Wilson intended for Cujo to play the entire match, he ordered Justin Pogge onto the ice. And, the shaky performance brings into question Joseph's ability to handle a part-time role with the Leafs this season at age 41.

If Joseph is not able to handle long stretches of inactivity - a difficult chore for any goaltender - general manager Cliff Fletcher may have to find another stand-in for Toskala, as Pogge's interests would be best served by playing regularly for the Leafs' top farm team, the American Hockey League's Toronto Marlies.

In fairness to Joseph, he received little help from his teammates - particularly rookie defenceman Richard Petiot, who was undressed by the Blues on the second and fourth goals of the opening frame, and was repeatedly caught out of position.

None of Toskala, Jeff Finger, Carlo Colaiacovo, Tomas Kaberle, Dominic Moore, Alexei Ponikarovsky, Pavel Kubina, Nikolai Kulemin, Jason Blake or Nik Antropov dressed for Wednesday night's debacle, and it showed.

Injuries are hampering the Leafs in the final week of the pre-season. Kubina and Kulemin, according to Wilson, are both sidelined a maximum 10 days, jeopardizing their availability for the club's regular season opener, at Joe Louis Arena, a week from Friday. Finger, Moore and Blake are also nursing minor aches and pains.

Things were so bad for the Leafs Wednesday night that a shot by Alex Steen on a 5-on-3 power play in the second period almost led to disaster. No one is quite sure where Steen was aiming, as his wide open slapshot from 40 feet almost decapitated teammate Jiri Tlusty. Luckily for Tlusty, he covered up in time to escape with only a bloody nose.

Yan Stastny, Brad Boyes, Stempniak, T.J. Oshie and Andy McDonald did the first-period damage for the Blues. Only Mikhail Grabovski answered for the Leafs, whose pre-season record fell to 2-3-1. Stempniak and Anton Stralman traded second-period markers.

Toronto's Niklas Hagman converted John Mitchell's third-period feed with 8:18 left. David Perron closed out the scoring for St. Louis.

Given the injuries to Kubina and Finger, rookie defenceman Luke Schenn stands a better chance of starting the regular season in the NHL. Schenn played in his fifth of six pre-season games Wednesday night - he was scratched only for the Leafs' overtime loss at Buffalo last Saturday.

"Luke has had a very good camp," Fletcher said. "He's playing with maturity that is beyond normal for an 18 year old coming out of junior and attending his first NHL camp. But, once the regular season starts, things change. And, his staying with us will depend on the amount of ice time the coaches project for him. If they come up and say, 'Cliff, he's going to play over 20 minutes a game', then the decision will be easy to keep him.

"But, we're not interested in having a real top-notch future Leaf here as a part-time player when he's 18."