The 2013-14 NHL season gets underway on Oct. 8 with the Leafs and Canadiens renewing rivalries, and what better way to get set than a season preview giving you the five reasons to be optimistic, pessimistic, and realistic about the Leafs' chances?

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.

Heading into the final year of his contract, Kris Letang might be pricing himself out of Pittsburgh.

The Penguins are working on extending Letang, but are hesitant to offer much more than $6 million a season. Pierre LeBrun doesn't think Letang will sign for any less than $7 million a season.

The Penguins have the cap space to offer Letang a contract worth $7 million a season, but thanks to massive contract extensions for Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, more than $34 million is already committed to six players in 2014-15, and adding Letang's big ticket would put them in a cap squeeze.

The Penguins are also concerned about whether Letang is worth elite defenceman money. According to Rob Rossi, "Letang is not the consensus best defenseman on the Penguins, at least in the eyes of management and coaches."

And with the bevy of young defence prospects in the Penguins' system, Rossi believes Letang has become a "must-move player" for GM Ray Shero. The Penguins could decide to keep Letang next season and go for a cup, return be damned, but a trade seems likelier, with CBC's Elliotte Friedman reporting teams are preparing offers in case the two sides fail to reach an agreement.

If the Penguins do decide to trade Letang, there will be plenty of suitors, despite the high cost to acquire the Norris Trophy finalist. More concerning, however, is Letang's desire to be paid like an elite defencemen. Sure, he's scored 190 points over the last five years, tied for 11th among defencemen, but are there enough holes in his defensive game to cause teams to look elsewhere for defensive help?

Is Letang worth $7 million or more over 5-8 years, or is this a case of buyer beware?

After setting the club record for highest save percentage last season, you would think James Reimer could feel safely entrenched as the Leafs' No. 1 goalie. But with the Leafs trading Matt Frattin, Ben Scrivens, and a second-round pick for the Kings' Jonathan Bernier, it seems like Reimer will have another summer looking over his shoulder. 

Acquiring Bernier, despite how little sense it makes, must have been an alluring option for Dave Nonis because the 25-year-old LA King has first-round pedigree. As an 11th overall pick, Bernier exudes the type of upside that GMs drool over.

But just because Bernier was once a high draft pick doesn't mean he holds any more promise than a fourth-round pick, like James Reimer, or even an undrafted goalie, like the departed Scrivens.

For years the Leafs searched for an elite winger to flank Mats Sundin. Infuriatingly, once the Leafs finally acquired that elusive missing piece—Phil Kessel—Sundin was retired. The quest then became searching for an elite centre to pair with Kessel.

Tyler Bozak has filled in on the top line about as well as you would expect a third line centre would, and somehow might parlay that experience into a major pay day this summer. GMs are truly stupid people once the free agent market opens.

Bozak didn't have to be the answer, however. There have been a surprising amount of No. 1 centres available through both trades and free agency since Mats Sundin left Toronto. Here is a rundown of who was available and what it would have cost the Leafs to acquire them. Considering the return demanded, maybe the last few years of Bozak won't seem so bad.

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.

If there's a silver-lining to Jake Gadiner's "concussion", it's that the Leafs are getting a better look at Paul Ranger.

Gardiner left a game on December 8 against Rochester after receiving a blindside hit from Kevin Porter, who was penalized for the hit, and hasn't played since.

A lockout hasn't stopped the endless Roberto Luongo rumours.

Last week, Sportsnet's John Shannon reported that there is an agreement between Toronto and Vancouver that would send the 33-year-old netminder to the Leafs once the lockout ends. Apparently Brian Burke and Mike Gillis (who both denied Shannon's report) have been in communication for a long time, ever since the Canucks reportedly asked for Tyler Bozak, Jake Gardiner, Matt Frattin, and a first-round pick at June's entry draft. That asking price was obviously a non-starter for the Leafs, but a deal surrounding Bozak is supposedly very much alive.

However, with the owners' latest CBA proposal, which would stick teams who sign a player for more than five years with that player's cap hit upon retirement, there is speculation in some corners that the price just went up.

The exact moment Down Goes Brown decided to use comedy to ease his pain.

Sean McIndoe, better known as Down Goes Brown, runs the funniest blog on the internet.

Of course, he's long since graduated from being simply a blogger. His work has appeared in The National Post and Grantland; TSN often has him live-blog or tweet through an event, such as the rebroadcast of classic international games; and he is a frequent guest on radio and TV spots (including an episode of The Agenda in which he debated concussions with Ken Dryden).

Now he's gone totally mainstream with his newly published book, The Best of Down Goes Brown.