Slim pickings

The Toronto Star's Damien Cox checks in today with a few notes on what the free agent market will look like this offseason for the Maple Leafs. One warning, Leafs fans -- it doesn't look good for you. The bad news for us Flyers fans is that it's going to be that much worse for us considering who our general manager is. Assuming [the Maple Leafs] won't blow their brains out on an aging veteran centre like Joe Sakic or Doug Weight, the mid-range forwards available may be people like Anson Carter, Sergei Samsonov, Mark Parrish, Jamie Langenbrunner, Jeff Halpern and Matt Cullen. All good players. But not quite the home runs Leaf fans - or even new coach Paul Maurice - had in mind, and some will be re-signed by their current teams before the free agent season begins. There's still the biggees on defence, namely Zdeno Chara, Wade Redden and Ed Jovanovski. All three could be re-signed by their current teams, and the Leafs might yet take themselves out of the running if they decide to give Bryan McCabe the big dough.