Over the next thirty days, with the hockey postseason coming to an end, and only a game a day, I will be writing a series about what each team should be doing. This started with the Blackhawks – my home team, my favorite, something I have freely and will continue to freely admit – and will now go from the bottom of the league to the eventual winner. It all starts with last place: the Toronto Maple Leafs.

The Maple Leafs have the pieces in place in the front office and in coaching – they have excellent coaching in the minors, and up top they have Mike Babcock, an elite coach and one of the three best coaches in the league, even if last place doesn’t really suggest it. There’s nobody better to rebuild the Leafs than Babcock and Lou Lamariello, their GM. These two in conjunction will hopefully bring the Leafs their first championship since the 60’s, something one of the biggest hockey markets has long wanted.

1. The First Overall Pick

The experts will tell you it’s not a choice. It’s Auston Matthews. They may be right, but Patrick Laine has been a surprise and will continue to be talked about. Although I agree with the experts – the Leafs will be taking Auston Matthews. They have long needed a first line center. The simple answer is, it’s not Tyler Bozak. It’s never been Bozak. They will be selecting Matthews because even with the loss of Phil Kessel, their depth at wing is fine, and it’s not something they need to address with the first overall unlike their problems at first center. You can’t win championships without one that performs in the playoffs – see everyone who has lost in these playoffs.

The Leafs also have young, talented wings in Kasperi Kapanen, Connor Brown, Tobias Lindberg, and Brendan Leipsic. They also have talented young centers in William Nylander and Mitch Marner. But they still lack what Auston Matthews can provide – someone consistent and who will bring it every game.

2. Steven Stamkos

It has long been rumored the reason Stamkos has yet to re-sign with Tampa Bay is that he sees opportunities elsewhere – namely to play center, something the Lightning are unwilling to let him do on their team, and for good reason – Valtteri Filppula just isn’t a wing, Steven Stamkos can be, even if he doesn’t want to.

But the Lightning will be fine – they’ve done their current playoff run without Stamkos. They have bigger fish to fry. Stamkos can be gotten by a team looking for leadership, and nothing describes Toronto better.

Stamkos is also from Toronto – he grew up there, and he grew up a Leafs fan. What would be better than to go home for a good bit of money – Toronto does have salary to spend – and winning a cup? LeBron would argue nothing. I think Stamkos could follow LeBron’s lead.

There will be pain, but with a long term contract, if the Maple Leafs can get both Matthews and Stamkos, it will have more of the pieces needed to be successful.

You may be wondering, if both Stamkos and Matthews are centers, why would Tampa need both? Well, look at Buffalo. Ryan O’Reilly being the center with pressure and allowing Jack Eichel to develop will be a smart move in the long term. And when Jack Eichel becomes a first line center, Ryan O’Reilly can be used for depth. That’s what the Maple Leafs could do – if Matthews surpasses Stamkos at any point in the future, your first and second lines still remain high quality. And with both of them on the first two lines – or with Matthews playing on Stamkos’s wing to start – the center depth will be one of the best in the league if both Marner and Nylander develop into good-great centers. Stamkos-Matthews-Marner-Nylander is great, young, center depth moving forward.

3. Goaltending

After giving up James Reimer to the Sharks at the deadline, the Maple Leafs were left without a goaltender who can seriously be considered as a franchise player. There are rumors that Reimer could return to the Leafs, but the Leafs will still need a reliable, consistent netminder behind him. There will be plenty on the market after this postseason, perhaps including Kari Lehtonen, Antii Niemi, Henrik Lundqvist, and Pekka Rinne. Offering up some of the young centers behind Nylander and Marner would be smart, as well as some current roster players. If the Leafs are able to land Lundqvist, Matthews, and Stamkos, we may be looking at other contenders this year, but in future years there will be no better team. The Leafs could also look for good prospects available in the draft in the later rounds.

4. The Current Roster

This is a team in need of an overhaul, and they will likely be getting one. With that said, the problem becomes what to do with the members of the current team, like aforementioned Tyler Bozak, and other veterans like Nazem Kadri and Joffrey Lupul.

One of the Leafs’ problems has already been addressed, in that the Leafs traded former captain Dion Phaneuf to the Senators before the deadline this year. But there remains a number of other things to consider for the team. This includes whether to re-sign free agents Brad Boyes, P.A. Paranteau and Michael Grabner, all experienced wings that could come in handy for their new, younger center core, whether to trade players like James Van Reimsdyk who could have gotten the Leafs a bounty before the deadline, and what to do about the defense, which will need an equal overhaul that the offense may be getting before the Leafs can go anywhere. The Dallas Strategy does not work. It was just proven. So the defense will also need to be factored in when Lamariello is doing his magic this summer. Like I said in the Blackhawks article, there’s a number of free agents available on defense. Maybe pick someone up.