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The Work Begins - Leafs GM Brian Burke on Off-Season Plans

May 26, 2011, 2:47 PM ET [ Comments]
Ken Beckett
Toronto Maple Leafs Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
With the Toronto Maple Leafs having played their last game in early April and the team's management returning from the IIHF World Championships in mid-May, it is now time for the Leafs' brass to focus on their off-season plans.

On Thursday, Leafs President and General Manager Brian Burke discussed a variety of off-season issues surrounding the team that he is looking to address.

Two of the Leafs' standout players this season, Clarke MacArthur and Luke Schenn, are set to become restricted free agents this summer. After signing MacArthur to a one-year, $1.1 million contract, the Leafs' newest acquisition had a breakout year, setting a career-high in goals (21) and leading the team in assists (41).

Schenn, meanwhile, found himself playing big minutes and stepping up physically, ranking eighth overall in the league in hits, and setting career-highs in assists (17) and points (22).

With a higher salary cap and a smaller unrestricted free agent pool to choose from this off-season, many teams could turn their attention to putting an offer sheet on RFA's such as MacArthur and Schenn. Burke explained that the team had not made any progress on contracts, but expected that process to begin shortly.

"No, we really haven't started working on the contracts," Burke said of the pending free agents. "Work will begin this week. We haven't spent any time on that yet."

The Leafs have two first round picks in the upcoming draft stemming from trades with the Philadelphia Flyers and Boston Bruins this season, as well as their own pick in the second round. Burke has made no secret of the fact that with two late first round picks, he would like to move up and draft earlier, while still picking twice in the first two rounds.

"We've talked to just about everyone picking ahead of us," Burke stated. "It's still too early to say whether it's something that's doable or not. Part of the problem is we want to pick twice, so what we've talked about to this point is that we're offering our second and one of our firsts to move up to a higher first. We're not packaging all three."

"So we've thrown this package at just about everyone, and no takers just yet, but lots of interest," Burke added. "People have said 'well, once we get closer we'll look at it'. But you can't make a good sized trade at the draft unless you do lots of work in advance."

Rumours have been swirling over the past several days surrounding the Leafs adding a top six forward through a trade at the draft. Burke mentioned that while a trade is being explored, he is also looking ahead to adding through free agency.

"What I do as a general manager is I'm trying every angle everyday," explained Burke. "It'd be better to do it on July 1st because you get the player for free. All it costs you is salary. You don't give up any assets, you don't give up any players or picks. Prior to July 1st, you've got to pledge assets."

"While you can get the guy on July 1st for free, the flip side is he may not be there. He may not even get there and he may not pick your team. There could be six teams all trying to put something together. We are exploring adding a player via the trade route, but if that's not successful, then we'll see what's there July 1st."

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