Nazem Kadri

The Toronto Maple Leafs have been steadily improving since Brian Burke took over the helm as General Manager. There are few doubters left in Leaf Land regarding his hockey acumen and prowess at the negotiation table.

Whether by draft, trade or free agency, Burke has put quality players on the roster and given them the chance to succeed.

There are again exciting prospects in the ranks—a novel concept for Leaf GMs of the past.

With the NHL season (slowly) approaching, not much has been set in stone.  Nobody really has a Stanley Cup prediction quite yet, or the slightest clue to who will emerge as the breakout star of the year.  One thing that is inevitable, however, is the often unrealistic optimism by fans of the Toronto Maple Leafs, myself included.

Nazem Kadri scored a beautiful shootout goal on Thursday night to keep the Maple Leafs in the playoff hunt. The young talent has impressed the coaching staff with improved defensive play along with his obvious offensive abilities, but has he cemented a job for next season?

After Burke's infamous conversation with Senators GM Bryan Murray and the inevitable punch in the gut feeling of having a desired player taken a couple picks before, Nazem Kadri was drafted seventh overall by the Toronto Maple Leafs.

When the 2010-11 season began, there was hope that the Toronto Maple Leafs would make the playoffs for the first time in what seems like a decade.

Fresh off a 7-0 loss to the New York Rangers on Wednesday night, the Toronto Maple Leafs pulled a 180 degree turn, thumping the Anaheim Ducks 5-2 in Toronto Thursday night.

The Maple Leafs will salvage some respect in bouncing back so well, but the team's penchant for Jeckyll and Hyde results has Leafs Nation and team management wondering just what they have at the end of the day.

On the heels of a 3-2 loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets, fans of the Toronto Maple Leafs are desperate to get any indication that their beloved team can improve.

In arguably the biggest hockey market on the planet, the mandate should always be to win.

From the ownership to the general manager to the coach to the players, the most important thing in your life should be to win.

With the state of the Leafs as it is, they will not be making the playoffs this season and are more than likely not heading there the following season, unless major roster movement occurs. 

Why is that, you ask? Currently, only Nazem Kadri, who was recently sent down by the Leafs, is the lone Marlies player drafted by the Leafs. Jerry D'Amigo and James Reimer are at the World Juniors and warming the bench for JS Giguere, respectively.

In a move that can hardly be called unexpected, the Toronto Maple Leafs have chosen to send rookie forward Nazem Kadri down to the American Hockey League where he is expected to continue to develop his game with the Toronto Marlies.

As we head into the Christmas break, we look back on what has been a downright dreadful first 33 games of the season.

This span of games has seen some bright spots, but for the most part, these games have been filled with inconsistent play, turnovers and an unwillingness to compete early and often.

To tell you all the truth, I could have made this list much bigger and included nearly three-quarters of the roster, but as it stands I will look back on the top five. These five will come from anywhere in the lineup, whether it's in net, up front or on the back end.