I am really puzzled by the Maple Leaf obsession with Brian Burke. He has had some success as a General Manager including a Stanley Cup but is he really the best candidate out of those willing to manage the Leafs? We won't ever know since the list of interested candidates (assuming there ever was a list) will never be made public.
Once again Brian Burke is struggling to get his team under the salary cap. He needs to lose a minimum of $2 million but he has needs a couple million more to sign Teemu Selanne. Burke placed Mathieu Schneider and his $5.65 million salary on waivers and no one grabbed him. He is now stuck trying to find a trading partner and will likely have to sweeten the pot by offering a draft pick. So that alone will make him qualified to manage the Leafs.
Last season he was in the same boat and put Ilya Bryzgalov on waivers and traded away a great young player Andy McDonald so he could re-sign Scott Neidermayer and Teemu Salanne. And lets not forget he signed Todd Bertuzzi to a ridiculous sum of money ($4 million) and then bought him out at a cap hit of $1.33 million for 2 years. Should fit in just fine as Leaf GM.
Oh and how does Brian Burke do at the draft table? His first 2 years drafting for the Canucks produced no one who played at the NHL level. In 2001, he used his first round draft pick to land R. J. Umberger who he then traded for Martin Rucinsky. No one else drafted that year played in the NHL. In 2002 he traded his first round pick to bring back Trevor Linden to the Canucks. His last draft with Vancouver (2003) he drafted Ryan Kessler 23rd overall but 24th pick was Mike Richards and the 28th was Cory Perry. Please don't ask about his other picks that year. The Canucks are still struggling as a result of Burke's drafting. Welcome to MLSE Brian!
I'm not suggesting that Brian Burke is incompetent. But he is not in the same class as the elite GMs like Ken Holland and Lou Lamoiello. He may not even be as good as Darcy Regier who just signed a contract extension with Buffalo. But the morons in MLSE have annoited him as their savior and will bestow him with riches. Just add Burke to the list of overpaid personnel down at the ACC Cashbox.
12 years ago
