Frozen Fantasy: Rotten to the Core

The Leafs finally put Randy Carlyle out of his misery on Monday night. It was long overdue. The guy didn't have a chance with that motley cast of characters and the shadow of Mike Babcock smothering all the light.

Shhhhh…don't call it tampering.

The Leafs threw down the gauntlet to Babcock on Tuesday morning. The long-rumored contract extension in Detroit had not been signed, so why not dump a truckload of carrots in Maple Leafs Square?

Babcock has maintained he loves the Motor City and would like to stay. But he has also lamented at times about how hard it is to keep things fresh when you've been in a place for as long as he has.

The Leafs would certainly be a challenge. But would he be the guy to get them to the Promised Land?

Babcock took over a Wings team in 2005-06 that had a .665 winning percentage and had just 189 goals against their previous season. How hard was it to improve on that? The Leafs would be a whole different kind of animal. They have allowed more goals than they've scored in the eight of the last nine complete seasons. And they probably would have done the same had the lockout not shortened the 2012-13 campaign.

Hey – they're on track to allow more than 250 this season alone.

The Leafs are pretty much right back to where they were when Ron Wilson departed and Carlyle arrived. They don't play any better as a team. Their possession game is still awful. And they still allow a truckload of vulcanized rubber to pelt their net. OK, that last one has changed a tiny bit with Peter Horachek.

But can a leopard really change its spots?

I'll give credit where credit it due – my favorite whipping boy, Nazem Kadri, has already started to buy into the value of being a complete player. But Leafs president Brendan Shanahan is sorely mistaken if he thinks Phil Kessel can be transformed from a high-scoring, one-man show into a leader and complete player.

Hey Shanny – Phil the Thrill is no Stevie Y (look up that transformation if you're too young to remember). And Mike Babcock – as good as he is – is no Scotty Bowman. Time to blow it up. But you won't.

Now let's take a look at who caught my eye this week:

Mikael Backlund, C, Calgary (3 percent Yahoo! owned): Four points, including two goals, in two games since missing 29 because of abdominal surgery? Go get him. NOW. There's no rust on him at all. And if he can stay healthy…

Aleksander Barkov, C, Florida (5 percent Yahoo! owned): Barkov has been suffering through a real sophomore slump this season. The just-turned 19-year-old got out of the blocks slowly and had but a single point in his first 10 games. And just when he started to show a bit of zing, he blocked a shot with his hand and missed a couple weeks in December. Ouch. Now that he finally seems comfortable, he has put up three points – including a goal that stood as a game-winner – in his last four games. The talent and hard work is there, so this could be the start of a solid second half. He's out with the flu right now, but should be back in a game or two. Grab him before he returns.

Francois Beauchemin, D, Anaheim (3 percent Yahoo! owned): Big Beauch logs a lot of heavy minutes for the Quackers, and that rarely rewards fantasy owners (other than plus-minus, of course). But something has come over him since Christmas. Hey – maybe the jolly old guy in red put 5-Hour Energy shots in his stocking. Beauch has three goals in his last five games (his only three goals all season). Most importantly, those three goals were absolutely clutch – one was a game-winner and the other two tied the game in the third period. The Ducks eventually won both those games, too. I'm buying in, at least in the short term. Even if he doesn't continue to tickle the twine, he'll be on the ice in those important situations. Points may just come with the firepower on that squad.

Bryan Bickell, LW, Chicago (2 percent Yahoo! owned): Four goals in six games – geez, you'd think this was the postseason. Bickell is my boy in points-based playoff pools – he's usually cheap to put on my squad and always delivers otherworldly production (for a grunt, that is). But he's clearly dreaming of the postseason right now. Take advantage. You can do worse.

Patrik Elias, LW/C, New Jersey (25 percent Yahoo! owned): Elias has five points in his last four games after missing twice as many games as he played last month. OK, so three of those points came in one game against Buffalo. But he notched a goal against Philly and added a helper against Tampa. Has he turned the corner? I'm not entirely convinced. His plus/minus remains suspect, but he might give you one last boost of fantasy juice.

Marcus Johansson, LW/C, Washington (15 percent Yahoo! owned): Hands up if you'd just about given up on Johansson. Thought so. He was chugging along at a point-every-two-games pace – just like he delivered last season – until just before Christmas. And there's only so much room on a roster for a winger who'll deliver 40-to-44 points with no PIM. But he has seven points, including three goals, in his last eight games. Jump on and ride him until both he and the Caps slow down.

Melker Karlsson, C, San Jose (1 percent Yahoo! owned): Karlsson got his chance at glory when Jumbo Joe Thornton hit the sidelines. I thought Melker would be a one-game-and-done kind of guy. But he now has a goal in four straight outings. The Sharks signed the 24-year-old out of the Swedish Elite League last May after a strong season and playoffs. He's not exactly the best skater, but he works his butt off and he's not afraid to crash the crease hard. He'll get sent back down, but he's worth a flier until he does. No, he's not the next Tomas Hertl, but who cares? Besides, be careful what you wish for. Tomas Hertl has just two points in his last 15 games…

Kevin Klein, D, NY Rangers (6 percent Yahoo! owned): Eight goals? WTF? It had taken him most of three previous seasons to amass that total, so eight in 37 games is verging on the miraculous. So is a four-game point streak (one goal, three assists) AND the mantle of top-scoring blueliner in Madison Square. That latter miracle won't continue – Ryan McDonagh will soon be that guy. But you should take full advantage of Klein's steady play. He won't help you with power-play points, but he will deliver hits and blocks, and be solid in plus/minus.

Ryan Reaves, RW, St. Louis (1 percent Yahoo! owned): Reaves opened up a can of whoopass after New Year's and has amassed several fights and 28 PIM in just four games. That's fantasy platinum in an era where you usually only move your PIM one minor penalty at a time. Sure, fights are way down in the NHL, but some gloves are still being dropped. And guys like Reaves can help you make a big jump in the sin bin category; otherwise, you'd be wise to punt that category. Seriously, how do you move that needle if you're accumulating two minutes here and there? P.S. Drop him the moment you see a slowdown or a drop in ice time. He has one point in his last 19 games, so there's really just one reason he's on your team.

Derek Roy, C, Edmonton (1 percent Yahoo! owned): It really wasn't that long ago when Roy delivered at a point-per-game pace. He hasn't been a fit anywhere since he left Buffalo, so there's no guarantee that Edmonton will be the right place, either. But he hadn't a three-point game since mid-November 2013 until he rang up a trinity Friday night. He has four points, including two goals, in his last three games. Roll the dice…especially if he can get Nail Yakupov rolling. That duo could be pretty special.

Daniel Winnik, LW, Toronto (1 percent Yahoo! owned): Winnik has been a sturdy, dependable and largely forgettable fantasy forward his entire career. But he got a fresh opportunity on a scoring line courtesy of a new coach who decided to tinker with his trios. And that opportunity has resulted in two goals and an assist in two games. This will be short-lived, but interim head coach Peter Horachek will reward what works. Winnik works – both literally and figuratively. You can always drop him when he moves down the lineup.

Jason Zucker, LW, Minnesota (4 percent Yahoo! owned): Zucker has skated on the top line for the last couple games and his chemistry with Pominville and Mikko Koivu is palpable…to the tune of four points, including two goals. Hey – there was even a three-point game in there against the tough, toothed-teal land sharks in there. This plum assignment won't last – Parise is due back soon from his bereavement leave. But Zucker's success on the top line might convince coach Mike Yeo to stop swearing and shake up those lines for a few more games. Zucker is already leading the Wild in goals (15), so anything is possible.

Back to the Leafs.

The core of the organization is rotten. The players. The management. And the ownership.

The team on the ice needs to blown up – this group will not get them to the postseason, let alone be successful there. The management has been flawed since Pat Quinn sat in both seats. And the ownership is still focused on the $3 million boost it'll get with every home playoff date.

This is the same collective management group that couldn't even give 22 teenage Canadians a chance to bask in the glory of a gold medal win at the World Junior Championship in their barn.

Instead, they axed their coach and cast an eclipse over the medal. In a hockey-crazed country, the goal-medal win didn't even trend for 12 hours before it was smoked.

Shame.

But before that, the Leafs' ownership group sure didn't mind soaking us fans on concessions during each of the tournament games. Beer was $11.75 to $16+, depending on size (not that either was really that big). And a little bag of popcorn was $5.75.

Spit.

Run, Babcock – run! Get your signature on a piece of paper in Detroit. Toronto eats its own for lunch. And then burps all the way to the bank.