The Burke Effect
Posted 10:51 PM ET | Comments 4
As I have heard and observed Burke over the past few years it's clear that he is going to make a few changes with the roster and the admin at MLSE, I hope the Silver Fox and Joe are allowed to stay on as an Executive Commitee of Consultants but I think this guy will waste no time to gut this team and put his stamp on it.
The fact the Leafs have a lot of mediocre Russians, Sweedes, Czechs and Fins look for him to move Andropov, Poni especially him, Kulemin, Tlusty, Steen, Kaberle, Kubina.
And look for young North American players to fill in those spots Kaberle and Kubina can get some solid return of roster players considering teams like Pittsburgh who have a Staal that they don't have room to sign and maybe draft pick for just one of the guys I mentioned. In fact Tlusty may be offered to complete this trade as he has history with Malkin.
Carolina would like to get their hands on T kaberle and they have a few young North American players that could be swapped.
Ottawa has a real problem with culture and they need a serious change players like Spezza, Heatly are not untouchable and clearly would be made available for the right price. Of course teams like Chicago might be looking to augment their defense to make a good push for the play-offs or teams like San Jose or even Annaheim may be looking for some depth on defense and may give up a young prospect.
Tampa may want to divest themselves of some assets and so on. Given the development that Burke is going to be more than likely coming to Toronto it is clear that this team will not make the play-offs this year and I mean not even close. It'll be next year at the earlisest that a Leaf team will be making a good run as the guys they have now barley know the sacrifice it takes to win and frankly these guys may never know that Steen, Stajan, Tlusty, Foster, Grabovski and the like.
Above all a 31 year old goaltender that is in the Elite level can garner quite a bit of attention at the trade deadline and there I can see draft picks and young prospects being moved our way.
In the meanwhile to fill the gap of those players that were traded for prospects I can see Bell, Earl and Devareaux coming back up to fill some of the gaps for the rest of the season. I also see Blake going down to the minors for the next year or two before they buy him out because the screw ups of JFJ will go on for years to come. Say what you want about Quinn he did get results year in year out without mistake but JFJ signed and traded like my 12 year old kid would without much thought. He'll never be a manager again without asking if he wants fries with the order.
The fact the Leafs have a lot of mediocre Russians, Sweedes, Czechs and Fins look for him to move Andropov, Poni especially him, Kulemin, Tlusty, Steen, Kaberle, Kubina.
And look for young North American players to fill in those spots Kaberle and Kubina can get some solid return of roster players considering teams like Pittsburgh who have a Staal that they don't have room to sign and maybe draft pick for just one of the guys I mentioned. In fact Tlusty may be offered to complete this trade as he has history with Malkin.
Carolina would like to get their hands on T kaberle and they have a few young North American players that could be swapped.
Ottawa has a real problem with culture and they need a serious change players like Spezza, Heatly are not untouchable and clearly would be made available for the right price. Of course teams like Chicago might be looking to augment their defense to make a good push for the play-offs or teams like San Jose or even Annaheim may be looking for some depth on defense and may give up a young prospect.
Tampa may want to divest themselves of some assets and so on. Given the development that Burke is going to be more than likely coming to Toronto it is clear that this team will not make the play-offs this year and I mean not even close. It'll be next year at the earlisest that a Leaf team will be making a good run as the guys they have now barley know the sacrifice it takes to win and frankly these guys may never know that Steen, Stajan, Tlusty, Foster, Grabovski and the like.
Above all a 31 year old goaltender that is in the Elite level can garner quite a bit of attention at the trade deadline and there I can see draft picks and young prospects being moved our way.
In the meanwhile to fill the gap of those players that were traded for prospects I can see Bell, Earl and Devareaux coming back up to fill some of the gaps for the rest of the season. I also see Blake going down to the minors for the next year or two before they buy him out because the screw ups of JFJ will go on for years to come. Say what you want about Quinn he did get results year in year out without mistake but JFJ signed and traded like my 12 year old kid would without much thought. He'll never be a manager again without asking if he wants fries with the order.
i dont really understand how you can say grabovski and tlusty may never know what it takes to win. they just got into the league and grabovski has been great so far. neither of them has a full season under their belt. and theres absolutely no way burke trades tlusty or kulemin. he loves big canadian boys but both those guys are young with potential you dont give up on them before they even have a chance to play a full season. kulemin even has the size to turn into a burke like player once he starts burying a little more often and puts his size to use.
1. Your firesale approach to a rebuild will amount to nothing but a team of rookies with no decent Vets to help develop them-- see PHX, CLB, STL.2. North American or European it makes no difference. Its the calibre of player, not the country they call home. Our last best player and captain wasn't North American if you recall.3. Stop calling for the Toskola trade. I know he's our biggest asset, but look around the league-- Elite starter goalies are near impossible to get. Lets say we trade Tosk, and get that coveted 1st rounder and hell even a Bobby Ryan type prospect. Now we move on to next season... CuJo's retired, all the decent goalies are signed and Pogge is only ready to take on 30 games at most. Who's going to make the remaining starts? Look's like we'll be trading for a starter... counter productive no?Lets leave the gutting to Burke... assuming he gets the job.
There are some problems with your logic. One who do you think the Leafs have to trade for the likes of Spezza and Heatley? Honestly? Ponikarovsky and Antropov one deal? To much cap space lost on average players. Toskala is not highly thought of outside of Toronto and wouldn't bring much other than draft picks and depth players and their really isn't the space to move him because there is nobody to replace him and Pogge really isn't developing as hoped. Bell will never be moved up thanks to his history with Wilson and if he is moved up by Burke expect the first sparks of a potential ego clash. He is more likely to waive players like Blake for cap space and try to shift Poni for picks and depth. Build from youth and expect him to bring gritty West coast style players.
I agree with Walrus on this one, to an extent. I believe Burke if hired (or when) will immediately bring in his own people (I hope Fletch and Newie stay on in some role) and then evaluate exactly what he has as tradeable assets. There are quit a few people that can bring some good return (believe it or not), especially the way the leafs have surprised a lot of GM's so far. Burke will want to get a good young core and worry about the voids later. I think BB wants to build a solid team to prove a point to all the naysayers about his past track record. If he was ever to bring a cup to Toronto people would believe think he was the second coming.