Dave Nonis forgot one last Christmas present under the tree for Leafs fans, and delivered it on Tuesday, firing head coach Randy Carlyle.

The move comes half a season and one contract extension too late, but the news of Carlyle's dismissal is positive nonetheless.

The Boston Red Sox ended an 86-year World Series drought after hiring a 28-year-old executive named Theo Epstein, and after the Maple Leafs hired 28-year-old Kyle Dubas as assistant GM on Tuesday there is hope a similar miracle might work in Toronto.

Despite great goaltending, the Leafs allowed the fifth most goals in the league last season. Sadly, that isn't surprising. The Leafs haven't been better than 18th in goals allowed since the start of Lockout I.

Finally, they have some goaltending, so the bulk of the work will come in revamping the defence (and hopefully firing Randy Carlyle). It won't be easy, but there are plenty of options out there, many of which don't include trading Jake Gardiner.

On the one-year anniversary of his hiring as Toronto Maple Leafs general manager, Dave Nonis is witnessing his team implode. Toronto has only two regulation wins in their last 23 games and only four in the 30 games since a 10-4 October.

After making the playoffs last season the Leafs have taken a gigantic step backwards in 2013-14, although they are miraculously still in a playoff spot thanks to a terrible Eastern Conference.

Now seems like a good time to evaluate Nonis' first year on the job.

Dion Phaneuf is on the verge of signing a seven-year extension with the Leafs, valued at $7 million per year. The cap hit comes with major sticker shock, but it's a deal the Leafs needed to make.

The tide might be turning against Randy Carlyle.

After a quick start to the season has been erased by an awful November and the first few weeks of Deathcember, the shine on Carlyle, the coach responsible for ending Toronto's near decade-long playoff drought, is starting to fade. Last year many of his moves were roundly criticised by the blogosphere and some of the saner elements of the mainstream media (shout out to James Mirtle!), but the Leafs were winning, so for the broader portion of newspaper writers and television analysts Carlyle could do no wrong.

The same reverence for Carlyle no longer exists. Many of his puzzling moves are being questioned by pundits who might have looked the other way last year. Winning cleans up a lot of mistakes, even those made by coaches.

Hours before the start of the regular season, Phil Kessel re-signed with the Toronto Maple Leafs for $64 million over 8 years.

With a number that big there are sure to be people losing their minds. To help you understand I put together a handy guide to answer any concerns you might have about the richest deal in Maple Leafs history.

The little deals add up, and for Dave Nonis and the Toronto Maple Leafs, that might mean Cody Franson is firing slap shots from the point for another team next year.

According to TSN's Darren Dreger, the Leafs might not have the cap space to give Franson the deal he wants.

It took me less than six months to turn on Dave Nonis.

I initially called Nonis a "good hire" in January—despite believing Brian Burke deserved at least one more year at the helm—based on his conservative approach in Vancouver. Nonis didn't sign any albatross contracts in Vancouver, letting a declining (yet still popular) player like Ed Jovonovski walk and balking at Anson Carter's inflated demands even after he finished a (Sedin-created) 30-goal season. He stole Roberto Luongo from Florida and refused to gut the farm system (Alex Edler and Ryan Kesler) for Brad Richards, ultimately costing him his job.

But that conservative approach has been replaced by pure insanity in Toronto.

Living through the JFJ era was torture for Leafs fans, and it appears the misguided, mismanaged ways of the past are returning.

Dave Nonis has used the Leafs' final compliance buyout on Mikhail Grabovski, ridding Toronto of Grabovski's $5.5 million cap hit. The buyout will cost the Leafs $14.33 million in real dollars over eight years, but nothing against the cap.

The Leafs have reportedly made no progress on signing a new deal with soon-to-be free agent Tyler Bozak, and could conceivably trade his negotiating rights to recoup some value. For the Leafs, centre-starved for years, losing Bozak would not be a bad thing.

For the first time in years, the Leafs will hit free agency with money to spend. Unfortunately, this year's free agent crop is missing out on big name talent, and the areas the Leafs most need to improve, centre and defence, are practically barren. But there is a player practically made to play in Toronto, a folk hero in waiting, one even with Darcy Tucker crazy eyes.

Toronto-born David Clarkson, who grew up idolizing Wendel Clark, will definitely be on Dave Nonis' shopping list if he hits free agency, and for good reason.

The most shocking Leafs news Wednesday was not a Roberto Luongo trade; it was Brian Burke's sudden firing.

Bob McKenzie first reported that Burke was being relieved of his GM duties and a press conference later in the day introduced former assistant GM Dave Nonis as his permanent replacement.

Brian Burke has publicly stated that he is not interested in a five-year re-build. Bolding acquiring Phil Kessel indicates as much. Whenever you trade two first round picks (and a high second!) you are basically saying, “draft schmaft”.

I don’t really blame him. The GM position for the Maple Leafs takes a large toll on a person. One year as the GM of the Leafs is equal to three human years. That means a five-year re-build will take 15 years off Brian Burke’s life! No wonder he wants this done quickly, he won’t be around to see it finished otherwise.

Thankfully, the Leafs have assembled a super management team of former GMs and the two-year extension signed by Dave Nonis ensures that the super best friends, Burke and Nonis, will continue to work together for the immediate future.

Dave Nonis’ decision to re-sign with the Leafs was welcomed news to me, as he’s clearly a very smart hockey mind. After the Leafs allowed JFJ to drown without even the most modest support I’m always thankful when the Leafs hire or keep a bright hockey mind. I loved when they had Joe Nieuwendyk and I even like Cliff Fletcher in an advisory role – even though his senility wasted draft picks on Jamal Mayers and Ryan Hollweg.

I worried Nonis would leave the Leafs after his contract expired for a higher position with another club, which was definitely in play since he was reportedly a candidate for the GM position in Tampa Bay. He’s already been the GM of a high-profile team (see Vancouver, people sometimes respect you), so I worried he wouldn’t be satisfied playing second fiddle somewhere else (even though that somewhere else is Toronto).

I’m sure this will not be the first time that a team has interest in the former Canucks’ GM. However, Nonis has stated that Toronto is the ideal situation for his family. Additionally, he says he does not want to leave Toronto with so much work left to be done. Burke and Nonis are trying to win a Cup you know. Aside from these two reasons to stay I believe that Nonis has a long-term future with the Leafs and I don’t just mean in an Assistant GM capacity.

It’s not very hard to make fun of us fans comprising Leafs Nation. There is the obvious 1967 angle, the bogus trade history, botched drafts, the entire 1980s, and pretty much anything else that falls under the category of disappointments. Leafs Nation as a collective is also a source of hilarity. We’re just as despondent as we are optimistic. After one win we’re thinking playoffs and after one loss we’re lamenting Taylor Hall. The vacillation is incredible. Rick has been on and off the bandwagon so often this year he’s bought a monthly pass. We take everything a little too seriously and we love to get way ahead of ourselves. After one beauty goal we’ve penciled in Tyler Bozak as the number 1 centre for the foreseeable future. That’s Leafs Nation.

Being a maniacal member of Leafs Nation I keep my ear to the streets for any slight against the Leafs. That’s another characteristic, we’re extremely loyal and very quick to defend (no matter how rational an argument against). Fights over disparaging Mats Sundin remarks aren’t uncommon. However, there is a new source of criticism being thrown at Leafs Nation. That criticism concerns the bold new management team led by brash Brian Burke. Much of this criticism developed as a response to our proclamation that Burke was the saviour (not that we’d go all Jesus Price on everyone). We’re Leafs Nation; we work in hyperbole, not necessarily reality. I don’t need to defend Brian Burke. He’s loud and outspoken and his Stanley Cup ring speaks for itself. However, poor Dave Nonis gets lumped in with the Burke hate from traducers and receives ridicule for his role in the brief demise of the Vancouver Canucks (missing the playoffs twice in three years). The worst I’ve seen is him labeled as the man who ruined the Canucks. This is so malicious I just had to stick up for Nonis. I'm no hero, just doing my duty as a Leafs fan.