| State of the Toronto Maple Leafs | Tweet |
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| Written by Dobber | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sunday, 18 March 2012 09:46 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Brian Burke - the best man for the job in Toronto - The worst franchise that I have ever seen was the 2008-09 version of the Toronto Maple Leafs. They had little in the way of draft picks, their farm system was disgusting, and their pro team was filled with untradeable contracts. There wasn’t one franchise in the NHL that I would swap for the Leafs. They were horrible in every sense of the word.
Here are the prospects I profiled in the 2008 Fantasy Prospects Report:
Jiri Tlusty, Nikolai Kulemin, Jeremy Williams, Anton Stralman, Chris DiDomenico, Dale Mitchell, Tyler Ruegsegger and Justin Pogge.
Brian Burke was hired on November 29, 2008 just five days after his predecessor traded away Alex Steen and Carlo Colaiacovo for Lee Stempniak. This team was, to be blunt, horrible. The top three scorers were Jason Blake, Alexei Ponikarovsky and Matt Stajan! The top scoring defenseman was Pavel Kubina! It was like Brian Burke was handed a bowl of toothpicks, a stick of gum and a cup of water by the city of Toronto, who then informed him “You have four years to build a car with this, but fair warning – in about three years we’ll start screaming for your job if we aren’t happy with the progress…and in 3.5 years the media will start calling you a failure if you don’t have at least the semblance of a car in place.”
He was given nothing to work with. Less than nothing. "Nothing" would have been an upgrade. If you dispute this, look no further than this year's "worst" team, the Columbus Blue Jackets. Let's see, they had Rick Nash, Jeff Carter and the 2012 first overall pick. Those three assets alone, can/would garner them more return than the entire 2008-09 Toronto franchise. Think about it - Jeff Carter already brought the Jackets Jack Johnson and a first-round pick. Toronto's best asset in 2008-09, Nik Antropov, brought them a second-round draft pick. As bad as the Jackets' franchise is right now, they're still better - several times over - than the 2008-09 version of the Leafs. But I digress.
So we’re 3.5 years later now. Burke has won almost every trade he’s done (an exception being the overpayment of Phil Kessel, but he got a soon-to-be 40-goal player out of it, and at the time it wasn't clear exactly what the picks he gave up would turn into), adding Joffrey Lupul, Jake Gardiner and Dion Phaneuf for what was little more than a bag of pucks. The Top 3 players are now Kessel, Lupul, Mikhail Grabovski and the top d-man is Phaneuf. The cap situation for the future is under control. They own picks in Rounds 1, 2, 5, 6, 6. Their top prospects are now Joe Colborne, Nazem Kadri, Carter Ashton, Matt Frattin, Gregg McKegg, Jesse Blacker, Stuart Percy, Ben Scrivens and Mark Owuya .
The franchise is now one in which I would trade one of six or seven other franchises for. That’s an upgrade from zero. Taking too long? The Leafs were hopeless. Hopeless. You couldn’t turn that team into a contender in 3.5 seasons if you played GM in a Sim Hockey game. The only thing that Burke has done wrong, in my eyes, was stand pat at the deadline rather than move MacArthur and Kulemin for first-round picks, as he implied were offered. But had he done that, would the city of Toronto give him another three years to build this contender? Nope.
One could say that the Tim Connolly signing was a terrible one, but for a two-year deal it was a pretty good stopgap. After all, the free agent market for centermen was terrible, so buying himself a year or two to see what that market would be like in 2012 or 2013 - when the team is better suited to "contend" - was a great idea. Why would you want to blow your future budget on Brad Richards when Joe Thornton could become available for the same cap hit via trade in two years? Or a young potential No.1, say a Sam Gagner, could be had in a year or two at a great cap hit? Sign Brad Richards instead of Tim Connolly, and those options go bye-bye.
The point is – if fans and media pressure the team to fire Burke, I would have a hard time believing that they could find an upgrade for the GM job. I’ll say it flat out – it would be a mistake. I acknowledge that Burke may only get this team up to “fringe” playoff status next season, and it will be three years before he could get them into “Cup contender” status. And sure, that means that in the end it would take him 6.5 years to get it done. But you can’t speed up that process without a No.1 center and a top goaltender, and they don’t grow on trees. Would the Leafs be a Cup contender with Henrik Lundqvist and Pavel Datsyuk added in place of Tim Connolly and Jonas Gustavsson? Yep. But there is no easy way to get such players, so the 6.5 years thing may have to suffice.
There was a recent quote in the Toronto Sun that said something along the lines of "the Leafs lose when they need to win and win when they need to lose". How very true, but losing for a better draft pick is unacceptable in this market and winning to get into the playoffs is difficult with a team still a couple of years away from having enough pieces. The latter would be fixable sooner if the former weren't true, but it is what it is.
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Comments (24)
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Hugo Twigg
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... @dobber He also didn't trade Seguin and Hamilton. He traded two unknown first rounders, and ended up being six points out of getting out of that lottery pick altogether (six points the Leafs would have had if they weren't forced to use their No.3 goaltender because of injuries). Where do you see someone saying that he traded Seguin and Hamilton? No where was this ever mentionned. Brian Burke traded his two first round picks when he was in a rebuilding mode. It doesn't get any counterproductive than that. How can you not get it? Quit with the excuse that it wouldn't have been a lottery pick because of this or that. The fact is that they ended up in the lottery. They had to use their 3rd goalie and they lost.. well who's fault is that the third goalie in the system wasn't good? In fact, even if they had win those games they would have given a top10 pick to the Bruins no matter what. If you are willing to trade two first round picks when you know you're rebuilding your team and going to end up in the bottom of the league for a couple of years, then send me an email I want you in my fantasy league! Easy money. |
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Hao
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... Wow, great article and some great arguments. I have trouble with a few things: 1. "The franchise is now one in which I would trade one of six or seven other franchises for". Am I reading this wrong? Surely there are a ton more franchises I would trade for the Leafs. In fact, I could find only a few I would NOT want to trade for: Minnesota, Columbus, MTL, Calgary, possibly Ottawa. Any other team I would probably flip for the Leafs. 2. I don't get the whole the city of Toronto would not accept losing. I listen to leafs stuff all day pratically. Every day. The fans call and would tolerate a rebuild. The seats will still be full. 3. I agree with the problem with Burke is due to his assessment and what he says. He's not as cool and calm as Anthropolous (sp?) who has almost every Jays fans agreeing with everything he does and believing in a patient system. If Burke wasn't such a boisterous big mouth, he would have the balls to convince everybody of a proper 6 year rebuild. I don't know why everybody forgets that BEFORE Burke, we were a fringe playoff team for a few years only to do nothing. I don't want to go back to that. I want to be a legitimate contender. Why shoot for fringeness again? |
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First Round Pick
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... Let's not forget that Burke extracted a small amount of revenge on Boston in the Kaberle deal to obtain Colborne and a 1st round pick from them. Yes, the 1st rounder was 30th because of Boston winning the Cup, but you could argue that Kaberle did everything in his power to destroy their chances by being a bad #6 d for them throughout his time there. I'm from Calgary and no, I'm definitely not a Leafs fan at all... they seem to get waaaaay too much attention compared to other success stories in the league. But if you take a look at what another fabled franchise, the NY Rangers, had to deal with for even longer than Toronto until Sather figured it out ~10 years later, and see what they have for a team now... then surely Leafs fans can be a little more patient??? |
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Jaxx
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can of worms....... .. Dobbs, think you opened a can of worms with this topic?? .... I do agree with you on most points. I am a level-headed Leaf fan. For the most part - good trades, bad FA signings. He had crap to start with and has garnered some assets now. Sure, not fast enough for the immature Leaf fans but acceptable for the reasonable Leaf fans. Re: Kessel...... agree that no one could reasonable see a 29th place finish. But I think Burke jumped the gun at the time. Kessel was injured at the time and Boston was in a bit of a quandry when Kessel would come back because of cap issues. There weren't many suitors (maybe Minnesota). So I feel Burke jumped a little and traded for Kessel weeks prematurely. I would have tried to squeeze Boston a bit. Obviously I wasn't listening in on calls and its only speculation but I remember media talking about such matters. Anyway, Other than that, Burke gets a passable grade from me and gets to stay emplyed for atleast a couple more seasons. |
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Brian
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well... Maybe he shouldn't have left it to the last minute on July 1 to use the money. So you're saying he had a lack of foresight in the previous 3 years before signing Connolly to a $9.5M contract (sorry for my ridiculous hyperbole for rounding up to 10), by not spending the money when it would have actually been useful. Like most other (successful) teams did. Interesting. And you still spun this as being a positive move... amazing. And I didn't say they're the same team as before. I said they're just as bad performance wise, and they absolutely are. They've never been good in 4 years. Goalie injuries, bad luck, didn't know the trades would turn out to be bad, yada yada yada. All teams deal with these issues. They're in the same spot in the standings as they were in the year before he showed up. I think it was beyond the laws of the universe for the team to have gotten worse so I'm not going to give him a passing grade for finally getting some decent prospects after 3 years of spinning his tires in the mud. |
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Hugo Twigg
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... @Jeremy And the Kessel vs. picks argument goes away if the Leafs won only 3 additional games in 2009-10, a season that had them starting AHL sensation Joey MacDonald due to injries to both Toskala and Gustavsson early in the season. 6 pts, and the 2010 pick is out of the top 5 or more importantly out of the lottery. Skinner went 7th overall in that draft. Skinner,Knight,Hamilton or Kessel?? And I'm not even going to comment on that lame excuse that ''3 lost because of Joey MacDonald''.... The fact that Burke trade two top10 picks for a complimentary player(a very good complimentary player) is still unacceptable. @Dobber You couldn't be more wrong on that ''29th other GM would have made the trade''. Actually, maybe 28GM would have made that trade, but Peter Chiarelli wouldn't have given two first picks for Kessel. Or he wouldn't have done the trade. Also, this is only presumptions but I doubt that any GM of a rebuilding team(Except Scott Howson) will give up two high first rounder for a player like Kessel. |
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Brian
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Really? This is poor analysis. Burke has made a ton of brutal mistakes. Komisarek, Kessel, Beauchemin, Connolly, all the scrappers and tough guys that are useless and require an accusatory press conference in order to get rid of. Not trading Kulemin and MacArthur are only the most recent ones. I could go on here, I'm just going from memory. Bottom line: this team is just about as bad now, performance wise, as it was 4 years ago. The only positive outlook for the rest of the season is the possibility of finishing 28th overall and getting a high draft pick. It's amazing that you spend so much time saying how horrible the Leafs were when he took over, and also give him a pass for trading away Seguin and Hamilton because there was no way he could possibly know that the worst team in the league would probably finish near the bottom of the standings. He could have made them conditional picks, but didn't - probably because the value from Boston's perspective was in getting those two high picks in the first place! And you spun the Tim Connolly signing from the terrible $10M cap sinkhole that it is, into a positive because... he could have made a worse move. Really? The $10M couldn't have been used on a player via trade? Or on a series of lesser players with more potential, or.... a new paintjob for the zamboni? Any number of better investments. If he's such a good GM then why can't he find a good use of $10M? You definitely got the attention you were looking for with this one, though. Probably got a ton of hits! |
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Ian
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... Dobber, I'll reply that saying Burke has "done better than anyone on earth could", is a bit presumptuous. Some of Burke's moves have been very good, but others have been mind-scratching at best. Planning to use two unproven goalies this past offseason is a horrible blunder. Was the situation dire when he took over? Yes. Is the situation better now? Yes, I guess. Are the Leafs close to being a consistent playoff team? No, they're not. And I don't care how many supposed legit prospects people trot out as proof that they are, or will be. This team needs a lot of pieces to be successful. And Burke's showmanship IS part of the problem, despite what you think. It raises expectations and tensions in a place that simply does NOT need anything extra added. I think you can argue that, in the right situation and used sparingly, a GM's blustering can take pressure away from players. Continual yapping in a major, rabid market like Toronto does the exact opposite. His blustering is like the guy who scores 25 goals, but makes $6million. Is 25 goals bad? No, but it is when you're paid like a top guy. That's Burke's issue. He talked a huge game, got hopes up, and now he's performing like a third-liner, but expectations are that he'd be a first-liner. All that being said, I hope the Leafs turn it around (whether by Burke's doing or someone else's). Leafs fans are the best in hockey and they deserve a solid product. |
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Jeremy Wark
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Ramping up the rebuild... Sure, his FA signings haven't been world beaters - but they are NHL bodies that can fill the seats while his prospects are developing in the AHL. 1st round picks that Burke has added since his hiring (and yes, I realize that he gave up 2 to secure Kessel): Lupul (7th overall 2002) Phaneuf (9th overall 2003) Kessel (5th overall, 2006) Schenn (5th overall, 200 - not Burke's pick Colborne (16th overall, 200 Gardiner (17th overall, 200 Kadri (7th overall, 2009) Ashton (29th overall, 2009) Biggs (22nd overall, 2010) Percy (25th overall, 2010) And the Kessel vs. picks argument goes away if the Leafs won only 3 additional games in 2009-10, a season that had them starting AHL sensation Joey MacDonald due to injries to both Toskala and Gustavsson early in the season. 6 pts, and the 2010 pick is out of the top 5 or more importantly out of the lottery. |
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Jeremy Wark
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Burke's moves 2008-09 Maple Leafs Ponikarovsky - Stajan - Blake Hagman - Grabovski - Antropov Kulemin - Moore - Stempniak Devereaux - Mitchell - Mayers Kubina - Kaberle White - Schenn Frogren - Finger Toskala Joseph 2008-09 Marlies Battaglia - Tlusty - Stapleton Newbury - Boyce - Williams Aubin - Deveaux - Ondrus Giliati - Hamilton - Rogers Sifers - Kronwall Stralman - Ryan Oreskovic - Perry Pogge Munro |
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Big Ev
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... Disclaimer: I am not a Leaf hater. Burke may have "won" the Phaneuf deal but methinks there's a reason why he did. Nobody else really wanted him. The guy is not a leader whatsoever and plays like a 2nd pairing D-man at best. The fact that he's the Captain is one of the biggest problems the Leafs have right now. They lack character, and toughness/grit required to get through an 82 game schedule+. Burke, the master of contradictions, said he wants his team to be truculent, but the team is soft. Burke also said that "July 1st is his draft day". He has signed Komisarek and Tim Connolly, who both have been bigger busts than Christina Hendricks. He also said he didn't want to finish 8th and get steamrolled in the 1st round, yet then he fires the coach and says his goal is to still make the playoffs. He's too much of an arrogant, egotistical bully and is one of the most overrated GM's in hockey. When your GM is constantly making the headlines more than the actual team on the ice, you know your team has issues. That being said, I don't know who else they would replace him with so I can't say that he should be fired. Burke needs to get a legit #1 centre, a legit third line, and a legit NHL starting goalie before the Leafs will even be playoff contenders. Relying on a guy like Lupul to repeat his production from this season won't get them very far. They need a big overhaul this off-season. |
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Ian
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... Times are tough in Toronto when being a "franchise is one in which I would trade one of six or seven other franchises for", is considered praise. Burke's tenure has been a failure, because the team hasn't met his loudly-proclaimed promises and commitments. No playoffs since he took over. Nowhere near making it. Horrible FA decisions, horrible goaltending decisions, fighting with media, the continued Kessel-Seguin debate, and I debate whether his cap situation is as great as the article insists it is. Take away a Joffrey Lupul transformation that no-one saw, and the Leafs wouldn't have been remotely close to the playoffs this year. Don't sell me that as Burke being smart - Lupul was a contract throw-in to make that deal work. I'm not sure what gives everyone in TO all this hope. Colborne, Ashton? Still more than a couple years away from being impact guys. Gardiner seems like a decent young guy, but let's be honest - pretty much every team has a good young blueliner in the system or already playing. Kessel has been very good this year, but I'd say this is his max. And, even worse, I think the TO media attention, the hype of playing near home, etc, actually drives FA's away from Toronto. Good luck getting whoever is available this summer. This isn't going to get better for a long time. |
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Bender
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Nice Article I agree with this. He has seemed to make some good trades picking up Colborne and Ashton. The Lesseps trade seemed like more bad luck than anything, considering the year before they almost made the playoffs and in theory picking up Lesseps makes the team better. So finishing second last was not foreseeable. I think Burke did a nice job pumping up Kaberle's tires to maximize the return. Its silly for fans to think that because he stated they had a five year plan that it would automatically happen... there are 29 other GMs who are trying to do the same thing, and this team has a decent chance at the playoffs next year under this coach and maybe a different goalie. |
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Larry
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... Burke is his own worst enemy. He touts every move of his as if it were gold- yet the truth is he is only a little above average. The Komisarek contract, Gustavsson being their saviour,the Rickard Wallin experiment, Bozak being a #1 center. Being in a hockey mad market only makes it worse (he shouldve learned that from being in Vancouver)as his every statement is going to scrutinized. The Kessel deal was a step back, maybe he wasnt expecting it to be a top 5 pick going back- but he shouldve expected it could very well be top 10, but why he rushed the rebuild with that deal, when it shouldve been obvious they were more than a couple of players away from really contending for anything was a HUGE mistake. Unless they hit a home run with their draft this year (drafting russians early is now a big crapshoot) theyre still 5 years away from truly contending, but I doubt Leaf brass will give him 5 more years. That being said, I do like his addition of Colborne,Frattin and Gardiner, assuming they dont ruin Gardiner like they seemed to have done with Schenn. If he is able to find a true #1 goalie (Im not sold on either of theres as ever being a top 16 goalie), then the playoffs could be in play- but to continue to improve after just squeaking into the playoffs you better have alot of good young players in the pipeline- which the Leafs are still behind most teams (but much improved lately) |
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Adam Zadorozny
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Well said I totally agree with this article. I think Burke is a fantastic GM. I am a Canucks fan, and I still realize that our team would not be as good as it is today without the work he did for that franchise. His imprint is still all over that team. If the Leafs ownership can stick it out with him for a couple more years they will start to reap the rewards that he will bring. I hate the Leafs, but I think he has done an admirable job bringing this team back up to respectability. Much better than JFJ could have ever done. |
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Hugo Twigg
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... I don't agree fully to your opinion. In your eyes, the only thing that Burke has done wrong is not trading Kulemin or MacArtur? I don't agree with that. Yes he made some very good moves, but his biggest mistake is the reason why I don't see the Leafs being close of being a Cup Contender for a while. I know you touched the subject a bit in this text, and I don't want to beat a deadhorse but the Kessel trade is the reason why the Leafs's rebuild will take 8 years instead of 5. Burke made the mistake of overrating his team when he dealed for Kessel thinking he had a playoff caliber team. His mistakes has two components IMO : A bad evaluation of his team and acquiring a very good player but a complimentary player. By sacrificing the future like he did, Burke should have made sure that he received a franchise player in return. He didn't, and this will haunt the Leafs for a long time. |
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Puckhead
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Burke for Mayor! Always the voice of reason Dobber! I was at a family wedding last night, and the topic of the Leafs inevitably came up. Burke has to go, the team is garbage, there is no future...now they will go on some run to end the season, which will mean they still miss the playoffs, but hurt their draft position etc...I essentially used the same points you did in your article above Yes, even Burke would tell you the team is not where he believed they would be, but what he has been able to do, with as you said, nothing to work with is nothing short of amazing! In reality, he should have managed the Leaf Nation's expectations better, but when you step in as a GM, a 5 year promise, is workable, but had he said 7-8 years, people would have called for his head, before his introductory press conference was even over. I also agree that while people are calling for his job, they don't stop to think of who would be taking over! There is nobody out there who could possibly be considered an upgrade over Burke. I for one would hate to see him cut short, and have to believe the new ownership group of Bell/Rogers who takes over this summer, understands there is no better GM for the job, and hope he gets all the time he needs to see this thru! |
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.... I do agree with you on most points. I am a level-headed Leaf fan. For the most part - good trades, bad FA signings. He had crap to start with and has garnered some assets now. Sure, not fast enough for the immature Leaf fans but acceptable for the reasonable Leaf fans. Re: Kessel...... agree that no one could reasonable see a 29th place finish. But I think Burke jumped the gun at the time. Kessel was injured at the time and Boston was in a bit of a quandry when Kessel would come back because of cap issues. There weren't many suitors (maybe Minnesota). So I feel Burke jumped a little and traded for Kessel weeks prematurely. I would have tried to squeeze Boston a bit. Obviously I wasn't listening in on calls and its only speculation but I remember media talking about such matters. Anyway, Other than that, Burke gets a passable grade from me and gets to stay emplyed for atleast a couple more seasons.
- not Burke's pick
