OK, so the Maple Leafs season is over – too soon, as has been the team’s habit since the spring of 2004 – and you, as a Buds fan, are wondering where to invest your attention and emotion until fall.

There’s no shortage of storylines to follow in Leafs Land, though. Here are three specific areas to keep your eyes on over the summer while you count down the days until the puck drops on another season next fall:

1. Salary cap saga.
Leafs GM Brian Burke is projected to have approximately $21.2 million in available cap space this summer. Some of that will have to go to restricted free agents such as Luke Schenn and Clarke MacArthur, but Toronto will still have a significant amount of money to use either on the unrestricted free agent market, or in trades.

There’s no need for Burke to spend it all — in fact, many top teams leave some breathing room for flexibility’s sake — but the manner in which he utilizes his cap space will play a huge role in determining how the team performs, not just next season but far beyond.

2. Ron Wilson’s contract status.
Toronto’s head coach didn’t want to discuss his future a day after the season ended, but considering he’s about to enter the final year of his contract, speculation on that subject will continue to ratchet up until he either has a new contract extension, or the team moves in another direction.

I think Wilson deserves a new deal — the Anaheim Ducks gave Randy Carlyle one this year when his team was positioned out of the playoff mix — but a one-or-two-year extension would be best.

3. Draft day dealings.
With two first-round selections (belonging to Boston and Philadelphia), the Leafs will be an intriguing team to watch during the NHL draft in Minnesota. Some suspect Toronto might trade one of those picks, along with another player/pick, to move up higher in the draft; another possibility is a straight-up talent for talent trade that could land the organization a top-line center.

In any case, more changes to the Leafs’ roster are all but assured and should come on or near draft day.