Toronto Maple Leafs...
- Thread starter 3.0charlie
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Colborne up to take Grabo's spot. Glad to see him get some play time.
Agreed. It will be an interesting summer. I am still glad that Burke didn't sell the farm just to "do something" and make all the Leaf haters happy. Funny how many Leaf haters keep saying that they need to fire Burke.
When Burke arrived he had nothing to work with, nothing in the minors, no prospects worth time. Here is a link to show just how bad it was:
State of the Toronto Maple Leafs
Here is the start, it is a short article but I still think the start is the best:
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 that 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.
Yup, we have not made the playoffs since the strike/lockout, but you can't blame Burke for all of that. If the Leafs don't make the playoffs next year Burke will be canned, and if that happens he will still leave the franchise better off than when he was hired.
I'll allow that Burke has the team in a better position than when he found it, but to be honest, many a GM could have made some kind of improvement.
Like many NHL teams, its darn hard to be successful if you don't have consistent goal-tending. An entire team will play better knowing that their goalie will keep them in the game.
I wonder how this team would have fared with a good goalie. I like to beat up on the Leafs as much as anybody, but I do think they are a better team than their place in the standings would suggest.
Get this team a good experienced goalie, be relatively responsible in front of him, and I bet this team makes the playoffs. Won't do much damage yet, but I think this is almost a playoff team (but with a very difficult to find part missing).
Like many NHL teams, its darn hard to be successful if you don't have consistent goal-tending. An entire team will play better knowing that their goalie will keep them in the game.
I wonder how this team would have fared with a good goalie. I like to beat up on the Leafs as much as anybody, but I do think they are a better team than their place in the standings would suggest.
Get this team a good experienced goalie, be relatively responsible in front of him, and I bet this team makes the playoffs. Won't do much damage yet, but I think this is almost a playoff team (but with a very difficult to find part missing).
I believe poor defense is what has been the bane of the leafs for the past decade or two. We don't remember it as badly because they had rather good goaltending (before they wore them out) in Belfour and Cujo, who typically had to stand on their heads to prevent the other team from scoring. Now that they Leafs don't have a phenomenal goalie, or one playing as such it makes evident how BAD the Leafs defense and its strategy has been for years.
I thnk the team had good goal tending, until Reimer got hurt. And even after that, Gustavson played well enough, but he is prone to one bad goal a game, it seems. The rest of the team deflates when that one bad goal goes in, and then they squeeze the sticks even harder. Reimer wasn't the same goalie as the end of last year and the beginning of this year when he came back after his head injury. He may still be injured for all we know.
That said, I think that Burke will fish for a goalie, but what do you give up to get something? And what is available? Would LA part with Bernier? Would Vancouver trade Schnider? Tampa Bay needs a goalie too, what are they willing to give up to get one? There are so many variables out there, it just isn't that simple for a GM to get a great goalie, if it was all of the teams would have great goalies!
I love seeing some of the mindless yelling for Burke's head as it shows people have no idea how things really work. If it was as simple as some of these guys think then everyone could be a GM in the NHL... and we know that it isn't that easy.
One final note, Burke stated that he had offers of first round draft picks for some players at the deadline. If he makes the trades the media, and the naysayers, scream murder because he is setting the team back 3 years and rebuilding, again. Since he didn't make the trades there are naysayers and media pundits who say he should have done it and went back into rebuild mode. He is damned no matter what choice he makes. So, I defer to his knowledge when it comes to running an NHL franchise, he has been doing it for a long time and knows what needs to be done.
That said, I think that Burke will fish for a goalie, but what do you give up to get something? And what is available? Would LA part with Bernier? Would Vancouver trade Schnider? Tampa Bay needs a goalie too, what are they willing to give up to get one? There are so many variables out there, it just isn't that simple for a GM to get a great goalie, if it was all of the teams would have great goalies!
I love seeing some of the mindless yelling for Burke's head as it shows people have no idea how things really work. If it was as simple as some of these guys think then everyone could be a GM in the NHL... and we know that it isn't that easy.
One final note, Burke stated that he had offers of first round draft picks for some players at the deadline. If he makes the trades the media, and the naysayers, scream murder because he is setting the team back 3 years and rebuilding, again. Since he didn't make the trades there are naysayers and media pundits who say he should have done it and went back into rebuild mode. He is damned no matter what choice he makes. So, I defer to his knowledge when it comes to running an NHL franchise, he has been doing it for a long time and knows what needs to be done.
Great post, I agree all the Leafs haters want Burke fired and the fans mostly think he has done a good job. Granted we still suck but compared when he was hired the future looks much much better.
It will be an interesting off season, so far on the list we need 1 if not 2 goalies, and a big forward ( Nash? ) Sounds like a pretty tall order if they try and keep there prospects intact. I would like to see them follow the Red Wings in terms of competitive longevity
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