Kings, unlike Leafs, see the light (Calgary Sun)

[lesgardiens]

If they were brothers living in their parents' basement, one probably would be packing up in the coming months, looking forward to the potential for a strong future, while the other would be staying behind, sitting on the couch with the remote.

The Los Angeles Kings and Toronto Maple Leafs have become bunkmates in the NHL's lowest tier, but at least the Kings can see the light at the top of the stairs. Where Cliff Fletcher inherited a team from John Ferguson that has too much money tied up in underachieving veterans and a prospect cupboard that is rather bare, the Kings' five leading scorers heading into their game last night against the Calgary Flames -- Anze Kopitar, Alexander Frolov, Dustin Brown, Mike Cammalleri and Patrick O'Sullivan -- are 25 or younger.

"This is a difficult spot we're in right now, but we're all learning at the same time," O'Sullivan said over the phone from L.A. "We're improving together and, if we can keep this core together, we can be a strong team in two or three years. We know we can't accept individual success."

[SabreKing]

The problem with the Leafs is that they have all their money tied up in contracts that are way overpaid and hard to move. At least with the Kings, they have more promising young players for relatively cheap money. But I will admit that Toskala is a better goalie than LaBarbera.