Brian Burke is a terrific hockey executive but is he the right man for the Leaf front office? Maybe not.
For one thing, Cliff Fletcher may be as good or better. Sure Fletcher said earlier this year he wasn't interested in the Leaf GM job. But now that he's been doing it for 10 months I would guess he would stay on if that option was presented to him. Fletcher has done a good job in clearing cap space, moving out malcontents, and finding eager and cheap players. In addition, Fletcher has attracted a good management team around him including Joe Nieuwendyk, Al Coates, and Ron Wilson. When your interim manager is that good why not just drop the interim tag?
Brian Burke has a good track record in building a strong organization, recruiting talent, dealing with the media, and marketing the game. But Cliff Fletcher can do all these things too. Burke has a won a Stanley Cup but so has Fletcher. However, Burke's track record in a number of areas has been poor. When he managed the Canucks he had a history of poor draft picks or trading away picks and prospects for veteren talent. Sounds too much like the Leaf draft history. While with Anaheim he continually experienced problems managing with the salary cap. As a result he was forced to move players to remain below the cap. For example, Bobby Ryan was demoted to the minors this season so Burke could afford to sign Temmu Salanne. Previously he had to trade Andy McDonald to the Blues so that he could afford to sign free agents Selanne and Scott Neidermayer. He also put Schneider and Bryzgalov on waivers when he could no longer afford to carry their salaries. And let's not forget that terrible Todd Bertuzzi signing.
I would be perfectly happy to see Cliff Fletcher remain as the GM. But we know that isn't going to happen. The Leafs have a short list with only one name on it and that person will be on hired in a few weeks.
