When Brian Burke became the President and GM of the Toronto Maple Leafs on November 29, 2008, he took on the heavy burden of undoing several wrongs committed by his predecessors. The Leaf Nation waited and watched as the Leafs would finish the season well out of the playoffs. Much opportunism would follow as all eyes focused on Burke as he began his first off-season at the helm. It was apparent from the get go that no current Leaf would be safe as Burke seemed intent on cleaning house and rebuilding under a new banner, his banner.
It would start
with the seventh overall pick at the 2009 NHL Entry Draft with the
selection of Nazem Kadri, which came after a failed effort to acquire
John Tavaras. Burke would go on to spend the majority of the summer
addressing his blue line, signing free agents Mike Komisarek from the
Montreal Canadiens and François Beauchemin from the Ducks. Burke would
also deal Pavel Kubina to the Atlanta Thrashers for defenseman Garnet
Exelby, dropping 3.35 million off their cap in doing so. Without many
solid prospects in their system Burke had turned to undrafted late
bloomers such as Christian Hanson from Notre Dame and Tyler Bozak from
the University of Denver but his biggest signing would be much sought
after Swedish goaltender Jonas Gustavsson. Burke's first major
acquisition came on September 18, sending the Maple Leafs' 2010 and
2011 first-round picks with a 2010 second-round pick to the Boston
Bruins for forward Phil Kessel. A trade that remains bittersweet as the
Leafs look more and more poised to earn a top five selection at the coming
draft.
With most NHL teams fighting the salary cap moving contracts has become
an art, on January 31, 2010 Brian Burke might have painted a master
piece when he acquired star defenseman Dion Phaneuf, forward Fredrik
Sjostrom and prospect defenseman Keith Aulie from the Calgary Flames
for forwards Matt Stajan, Niklas Hagman, Jamal Mayers and defenseman
Ian White, and traded goaltender Vesa Toskala and forward Jason Blake
to the Anaheim Ducks for goaltender Jean-Sebastien Giguere. The trades
play out well in many ways for the Maple Leafs who not only clear
salaries they were bound to for several years but also brings a well
needed presence to the dressing room that was lacking. If Jonas
Gustavsson is to be the Leaf netminder of the future then there is no
better example than Jean-Sebastien Giguere to learn from. Just ask
Jonas Hiller, Ilya Bryzgalov, and Martin Gerber who all used Giguere's
influence to reach the next level. Goaltending coach Francois Allaire
who had a strong influence on Giguere in Anahiem is the final component
and he believes Giguere can help Gustavsson grow, ""There are four or five guys who made
the NHL out of Anaheim," said Allaire. "You need a mentor to make the
guys get better and Giguere did that perfectly." Along with Giguere
defensemen Dion Phanuef a 9th overall pick in 2003 knows the pressures
of being a young defensemen in the spotlight and will be an example for young Luke
Schenn who was drafted 5th overall in 2008 . They both play a
physical game and share similar junior background coming from the WHL. While the trade on paper can be debated,
there is no denying the impact this trade will have throughout the
organization.
Looking ahead, Brian Burke has given no impression he is close to
finishing. Alexei Ponikarovsky, Lee Stempniak, and Tomas Kaberle will
be the biggest assets heading toward the deadline. Tomas Kaberle may
play out the season in Toronto as he holds a no trade clause in his
contract that Burke has publicly stated he will not ask him to wave.
Regardless if he waves it or not his clause becomes void this summer should
the Maple Leafs not make the playoffs giving Burke something to work
with before the 2010 Entry draft where he is without a first round
selection. Crunching the numbers while looking at next season reveals that
Burke's financial restriction will give him more cap space to work with. He will need to re-sign
Gustavsson who will look for a raise, John Mitchell and Nikolai Kulemin who has
easily been the Leafs most improved player and most consistent. With a
solid defense locked up, it will be the forwards that Burke addresses
next, and with a weak free agent market ahead it seems encouraging that
the wheeling and dealing has just begun.
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Burke isn't saving you... he's running you into the ground just like every other team he has had. He ran the Canucks into the ground, won a cup with a team he didn't build with the Ducks...who he then ran into the ground (look at them now) and now he is running the leafs into the ground....
Although it pains me to say it now he is at Toronto 
BB is probably the best trading GM in the NHL (Antoski for Naslund anyone?) and this was the ONLY way the Leafs were ever going to improve any time soon. "A realistic person", can I get some of the drugs you are on?
Burke adopted a mess when he took over the Leafs and while he may be criticized for some things, has been forced to be "GM in the moment," (ie: giving fans and season-ticket holders something to watch NOW--hence the Kessel deal) and "GM for the future" at the same time. He got Bozak, Hanson and Gustavvson (who, while unproven, shows promise) without giving anything up at a time when the Leafs had VERY little coming in due to poor scouting (and a management team that somehow signed Finger to $3.5M--no way Cliff knew the whole situation there) before his time.
Most importantly, he has changed the culture of this team.
Now if we could only change the culture of the media. There's enough haters out there already. Why do we need the media referring to the Leafs as "Canada's Team?" "Leaf Nation: The Passion that Generates Profits Negating the Need for Success on the Ice." Media should back off and let the Leafs enjoy the process of earning the attention, just like they have to earn shifts, ice time, etc.
I think the Leafs are headed in the right direction. There wasn't much to build with, and at least Burke is doing something.
It isn't easy to acquire high end talent, and Kessel + Phaneuf fit the bill. Giguere has won a Cup and is at least reliable.
The loss of picks in the Kessel deal hurts, but if there is one thing Burke has shown is that he won't stand pat.
It's going to be a long road, but at least it seems like the team is not on the wrong one for once.
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NHL Central Scouting have released their complete rankings of 211 players for the 2010 NHL Entry Draft.
The International Scouting Services have released their Mid-Term Rankings for the 2010 NHL Entry Draft.
