Burke gets a bad rep. I personally don't like him, but I think he's put the leafs in a good spot. Not great, but not horrible either. A gm can only do so much, at some point the product you put on the ice has to produce. Burke has a little more time before he gets the ax.

Burke gets a bad rep. I personally don't like him, but I think he's put the leafs in a good spot. Not great, but not horrible either. A gm can only do so much, at some point the product you put on the ice has to produce. Burke has a little more time before he gets the ax.
- Deadmau55

yes sir

Burke gets a bad rep. I personally don't like him, but I think he's put the leafs in a good spot. Not great, but not horrible either. A gm can only do so much, at some point the product you put on the ice has to produce. Burke has a little more time before he gets the ax.
- Deadmau55

The definition of not great but not horrible describes one word perfectly; mediocre. For a franchise that is supposedly worth 1 billion dollars, that's not anywhere near good enough.

lol I wouldn't get your hopes too high, it will only hurt that much more when they sign somewhere else. It's impossible for anyone to really know what they're thinking or if they would even care to play for Burke or Carlyle again. Time will tell. IMO if an impact move is unable to be made next summer like that then I say blow it all up and build through the draft.
- PootieTang

Burke will dish out the money regardless for his two prize positions from his former team. This is the summer Burke either goes insane with signings/trades or does nothing and gets fired and our team goes to poops

The definition of not great but not horrible describes one word perfectly; mediocre. For a franchise that is supposedly worth 1 billion dollars, that's not anywhere near good enough.
- Two_For_Truth

Majority of trades burke won, the only trades i really hated that i think we lost was the kessel trade despite kessel being one hell of a player, id rather hamilton and seguin. And the aulie for ashton trade. Even the versteeg trade but i like stuart percy. Versteeg i think demanded a trade so no point of keeping him here, especially for what fans did to his car which prob pushed him away.

Gotta say keep him for a couple years... He hasnt screwed the leafs over long term like past gm's have. Its poopty how the kessel trade worked out but at least kessel isnt a francis, leetch, nolan shouldda retired already trade. He has acquired and drafted good youth. The depth is there in the ahl now. Really was poopty to non-existent when he showed up. With 1 or 2 good free agent signings or trades the leafs are great. Bye to connelly then komisark and the teams cap space is already great.
Phenuf is a poopty captain also.. Gotta call that give away machine out

Mike Augello: Will Burke Survive Till His Next Anniversary?
- mikeinbuffalo

I sure hope so.

Burke has done a fine job of rebuilding this franchise from the talent-less state when he came in. The NHL team, sure, hasn't done so well. But the Marlies are showing signs of being a quality collection of young players.

And as far as the Leafs go, really, what opportunities were there that he missed out on? Vastly over-paying aging free agents like Richards? Over-paying in trades with young assets for pending free agents? Personally, I think he's made the best of the worst possible situation.

The only real fumbles were, obviously, Kessel and Kadri. But outside those, he's pretty much run the table on trades. Sure, he's made some questionable signings *ahem, Komisarek* but that's just money. It didn't cost us any assets to get them, so I'm not upset by it in the least.

Unfortunately, many Leaf-tards are fickle and impatient. But it's precisely their idiocy that got us here in the first place.

I like Burke. I like his style. I want him to see this through.

Gotta say keep him for a couple years... He hasnt screwed the leafs over long term like past gm's have. Its poopty how the kessel trade worked out but at least kessel isnt a francis, leetch, nolan shouldda retired already trade. He has acquired and drafted good youth. The depth is there in the ahl now. Really was poopty to non-existent when he showed up. With 1 or 2 good free agent signings or trades the leafs are great. Bye to connelly then komisark and the teams cap space is already great.
Phenuf is a poopty captain also.. Gotta call that give away machine out
- 10in_soft

We have a good group of young guys, kessel's value is something worthy and could always be flipped if needed. Phaneuf might not be the greatest of captains but it was about time we got a captain. Dont know who else would be a captain on this team. Besides phaneuf, i dont see anyone capable of filling a captain like role at this moment

I sure hope so.

Burke has done a fine job of rebuilding this franchise from the talent-less state when he came in. The NHL team, sure, hasn't done so well. But the Marlies are showing signs of being a quality collection of young players.

And as far as the Leafs go, really, what opportunities were there that he missed out on? Vastly over-paying aging free agents like Richards? Over-paying in trades with young assets for pending free agents? Personally, I think he's made the best of the worst possible situation.

The only real fumbles were, obviously, Kessel and Kadri. But outside those, he's pretty much run the table on trades. Sure, he's made some questionable signings *ahem, Komisarek* but that's just money. It didn't cost us any assets to get them, so I'm not upset by it in the least.

Unfortunately, many Leaf-tards are fickle and impatient. But it's precisely their idiocy that got us here in the first place.

I like Burke. I like his style. I want him to see this through.
- jnwood2517

Personally im happy we didnt get brad richards. But im upset we didnt get mike richards. We had the deal on the table of i believe kadri and kulemin along the lines for richards? And im sure we would of got carter later on as well. So that was one thing gone!

The kessel trade is a toss up but boston won that trade. The choice of kadri you cant be mad at. Kadri was one of the best selections to take, and its not all up to Burke, he gets advice as well on who to pick which influences his decision.

And money is money your correct, but when we signed komi, komi was a good player remember that. Connolly signing i wanted to kill burke

24th, 29th, 22nd & 26th - continued results like this, after the way he shoots his mouth off, and you'd have to think he's done, wouldn't you?

Remember when trolls were like "Haha lulz u'll still miss da playoffs evry yr!" and fans were like "no way thats impossible" and now its still like "oh hey... right... lottery picks!"

The guy has hardly done anything to make the team better. Junk for slightly less junk trades and poor as UFA signings don't cut it. He talked big about having a big mean team yet the Leafs aren't exactly tough to play against. 4 years ago the Leafs no #1 center, no supporting cast, poopty D and bad goaltending. Now they have no #1 center but a winger and a 2nd line, less poopty D and bad goaltending.

Say what you will about the prospects but most teams have guys of the same level. He just hasn't done a good job. He's not exactly a rebuilder. He's best at retooling teams but he never had the right assets in Toronto to begin with.

24th, 29th, 22nd & 26th - continued results like this, after the way he shoots his mouth off, and you'd have to think he's done, wouldn't you?
- LeftCoaster

That moment, when burke practically created your team but yet you say "wouldnt you"... nice one

Remember when trolls were like "Haha lulz u'll still miss da playoffs evry yr!" and fans were like "no way thats impossible" and now its still like "oh hey... right... lottery picks!"

The guy has hardly done anything to make the team better. Junk for slightly less junk trades and poor as UFA signings don't cut it. He talked big about having a big mean team yet the Leafs aren't exactly tough to play against. 4 years ago the Leafs no #1 center, no supporting cast, poopty D and bad goaltending. Now they have no #1 center but a winger and a 2nd line, less poopty D and bad goaltending.

Say what you will about the prospects but most teams have guys of the same level. He just hasn't done a good job. He's not exactly a rebuilder. He's best at retooling teams but he never had the right assets in Toronto to begin with.
- DTF69

Regardless, Burke is right. He does not want to make the playoffs and lose first round and i respect that. Our TEAM is not ready for playoffs. We dont have "the team" yet. The guy has made good trades... majority of trades he won besides the kessel and ashton trade. The signing of tim connolly was a poor excuse of getting a centerman since we lost out on the richards signing. The point of connolly was a signing for the sake to get a godamn centerman which was pretty dumb and the role could of gone to a young gun like kadri or colborne. As of now we have no goaltender, we have no proper centerman. Thats our 2 biggest concerns. Our defense roles will get filled in, we have a good top 4, but the bottom 2 could be filled in with guys like franson if resigned, holzer, if rielly makes the team, if percy impresses, if blacker steps up, we have fall backs. For forward wise, we have no number one center for first line. We have the wingers and possibly we need another but thats not the biggest case since we have players who can fill those roles in. For goalies we have no fallbacks.

Kessel ____?____(no proper centerman) Lupul(resigned)

JVR Grabo Mac(if resigned, doubt it)/Kadri

Frattin Colborne/Bozak(if resigned, prob traded) Kulemin

Brown Steckel(resigned cheap) Mcclement


Gunner Phaneuf

Liles Gardiner

Franson(if resigned) ________(holzer, rielly, percy, blacker, matt finn) as fall backs


_____(no proper goalie)

Reimer

Any sane, knowlegable fan of hockey who can view the tenure of Brian Burke with any objectivity would say that he has done a good to great job. Any critisism of the Burke administration is emotional and quite frankly, idiotic. Burke's unpopularity stems from his big mouth and nothing more. Personally I find him f;ing hilarious for the same reason I find Kanye West hilarious. That has nothing to do with hockey, however.

But he hasn't made the playoffs!!!

Who cares? Would you rather make the playoffs just to say you did or be a competitor for a whole bunch of seasons in a row? When he took over, the Leafs were worse than an expansion team.

They are now on a path to sustainable success, the future looks bright and Lupul,Kessel, JVR, Kadri, Phaneuf, Gardner, Rielly is a hell of a foundation to build around.

Best thing about Burke: he could have sold out just to make the playoffs and escape the critisism, but he hasnt. He is the first person to try a proper rebuild since the late 80s, which , you should realize, blew up when someone, trying to save their job traded away a 1st round pick to aquire Tom Kurvers. So, screw the playoffs, they'll get there eventually but Burke is the man.

Any sane, knowlegable fan of hockey who can view the tenure of Brian Burke with any objectivity would say that he has done a good to great job. Any critisism of the Burke administration is emotional and quite frankly, idiotic. Burke's unpopularity stems from his big mouth and nothing more. Personally I find him f;ing hilarious for the same reason I find Kanye West hilarious. That has nothing to do with hockey, however.

But he hasn't made the playoffs!!!

Who cares? Would you rather make the playoffs just to say you did or be a competitor for a whole bunch of seasons in a row? When he took over, the Leafs were worse than an expansion team.

They are now on a path to sustainable success, the future looks bright and Lupul,Kessel, JVR, Kadri, Phaneuf, Gardner, Rielly is a hell of a foundation to build around.

Best thing about Burke: he could have sold out just to make the playoffs and escape the critisism, but he hasnt. He is the first person to try a proper rebuild since the late 80s, which , you should realize, blew up when someone, trying to save their job traded away a 1st round pick to aquire Tom Kurvers. So, screw the playoffs, they'll get there eventually but Burke is the man.
- Jimmy_Tea

\

Yes, yes, and YES! agree with this 100 percent, Burke entertains me haha its fun to watch him get all mad and tell people off, he lays those trades down big time prob tells off the other GM's too "(frank) just do the trade (frank)" hahaha

Personally im happy we didnt get brad richards. But im upset we didnt get mike richards. We had the deal on the table of i believe kadri and kulemin along the lines for richards? And im sure we would of got carter later on as well. So that was one thing gone!

The kessel trade is a toss up but boston won that trade. The choice of kadri you cant be mad at. Kadri was one of the best selections to take, and its not all up to Burke, he gets advice as well on who to pick which influences his decision.

And money is money your correct, but when we signed komi, komi was a good player remember that. Connolly signing i wanted to kill burke

- Mapleleafs_91

This kind of stuff needs to stop: The number one centre thing is overblown. A real goaltender is any goalie who happens to get hot. Richards wasnt happening for Kadri and Kulemin, are you out of your mind? I agree not getting Richards was a blessing in disguise. The idea that Connolly is in anyway a bad signing just shows how much Leaf fans know about hockey, because this is a consensus opinion and its flatley ridiculous. Just for his penalty killing alone, Connolly deserves a roster spot. Also, he is a good leader on a young team. You should have your own guest spot on "Leafs Talk".

I don't get why people would rather have Seguin than Kessel. Try finding another Kessel. Theres a lot more guys who can do what Seguin does. The two guys we gave up in that trade are not stars and Kessel is. If you include Colbourne and a first for Kaberle its a steal.

Also anyone who writes Nazem Kadri off at the age of 21 is a moron. The guy is 21. Yup. 21. He could be nothing, or he could be a superstar. If you look it up, 7th overall is usually not a star, so why not go for the home run and draft a high risk/ high cieling player like Kadri? I jokingly predicted him for a 100 pts in his best year, but that isn't impossible. Can't fault this pick, even if it doesn't work out, which 7th overall picks usually don't amount to anything more than a replacement level player.

Worst thing Burke did was wait too long to fire Wilson. But oh no, he's loyal! To his friends! That villain.

This kind of stuff needs to stop: The number one centre thing is overblown. A real goaltender is any goalie who happens to get hot. Richards wasnt happening for Kadri and Kulemin, are you out of your mind? I agree not getting Richards was a blessing in disguise. The idea that Connolly is in anyway a bad signing just shows how much Leaf fans know about hockey, because this is a consensus opinion and its flatley ridiculous. Just for his penalty killing alone, Connolly deserves a roster spot. Also, he is a good leader on a young team. You should have your own guest spot on "Leafs Talk".
- Jimmy_Tea

The number one centre thing is NOT overblown. For countless years since SUNDIN left WE HAD NO PROPER CENTERMAN. The poor excuses of bozak, connolly put at center is beyond garbage for our first line to compete against other teams. Number 2 the mike richards deal was VERY MUCH real and there was a delay on burkes half and the delay in which the flyers had another deal presented. Dont know what happened there but i wasnt there so i have no say in that. A real goaltender is a goalie who gets hot? So all the consistent goaltenders who had consistent stats throughout the years, won stanely cups, etc are goalies who get hot? They are legit veteran goaltenders.. its like comparing (frank)ing mike smith who gets hot one year to a kipper or brodeur or rinne etc.. Connolly was a terrible signing. For 2 years was not a good move. 1 would of been decent, and to 4.75 million whatever the salary was, is ridiculous. The guy is prone to injury, not consistent in point production and for the money he is making, is not worth it. The guy made of glass played decent last season but is not a guy i would want on the roster when we have better guys than him. To me he takes up a roster space which could of gone to a young gun to prove himself. A roster space which was USELESS yes USELESS because mr tim connolly wont be AROUND THE TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS ANYMORE COME THE SUMMER. So as you can see, having tim connolly was a waste, a waste of money, a waste of bonding with the team, a waste of "trying to form chemistry", a "poor excuse" to try and make it seem like HEY WE GOT A CENTERMAN WOOHOO when it truly failed because connolly is no number one centerman for the first line and neither is bozak.

I don't get why people would rather have Seguin than Kessel. Try finding another Kessel. Theres a lot more guys who can do what Seguin does. The two guys we gave up in that trade are not stars and Kessel is. If you include Colbourne and a first for Kaberle its a steal.

Also anyone who writes Nazem Kadri off at the age of 21 is a moron. The guy is 21. Yup. 21. He could be nothing, or he could be a superstar. If you look it up, 7th overall is usually not a star, so why not go for the home run and draft a high risk/ high cieling player like Kadri? I jokingly predicted him for a 100 pts in his best year, but that isn't impossible. Can't fault this pick, even if it doesn't work out, which 7th overall picks usually don't amount to anything more than a replacement level player.

Worst thing Burke did was wait too long to fire Wilson. But oh no, he's loyal! To his friends! That villain.
- Jimmy_Tea

Seguin can play center and we lost dougie hamilton as well..

If the whole season is lost, it's hard to see the Leafs firing Burke but his time is limited, especially if he continues to fail to make the playoffs. At this point, it's just a matter of time. Hopefully he doesn't damage the future with futile attempts to save his own ass but odds are, that's an inevitability.
- Two_For_Truth

Do you even pay attention? You're the entire leafs nation rolled into one ball of non-sense. The Leafs are not going to fire Burke. If the people in charge of the games premier franchise are not able to understand that you have to miss the playoffs for a few years when you essentially an expansion team (2009), in order to build a winner, then whats the point of even liking hockey? There might be a bit, but there should be no pressure on Burke to make the playoffs. In fact, missing the playoffs for one more year would probably help more than it hurt.

Nothing Burke has done with the Leafs, or in his career, suggest he would make a short term move to save his own job. Say what you want about the guy, but his integrity is unmatched in hockey. He would never do that. The odds of Gary Valk coming out of retirement to lead the replacement players league in scoring are higher.

Seguin can play center and we lost dougie hamilton as well..
- Mapleleafs_91

WHo cares? Seguin is a worse player then Kessel, their position is irrelevent. Hamilton is in the OHL. Use your head man! The Leafs would actually be a worse team right now.

WHo cares? Seguin is a worse player then Kessel, their position is irrelevent. Hamilton is in the OHL. Use your head man! The Leafs would actually be a worse team right now.
- Jimmy_Tea

Seguin is a worse player than kessel? a 20 year old who got 67 pts in 81 games and recently has 32 pts in 21 games is worse than kessel? Your comparing a 24 year old winger to a 20 year old centerman i strongly would like to outline that we needed a centerman more than a winger. The position is relevant because we needed a center not a sniper. I love kessel, but the trade backfired on us. Hamiltons in the OHL, and your point? One of the most talked of OHL player, for team canada, etc. The guy that gets a excessive points as a d-men who right now, is the better d man than rielly, is something you would not like? a 6'5 giant is not burke material? give me a break. The leafs would be a worse team? Wouldnt that be better since we would get more closer to better picks?

This kind of stuff needs to stop: The number one centre thing is overblown. A real goaltender is any goalie who happens to get hot. Richards wasnt happening for Kadri and Kulemin, are you out of your mind? I agree not getting Richards was a blessing in disguise. The idea that Connolly is in anyway a bad signing just shows how much Leaf fans know about hockey, because this is a consensus opinion and its flatley ridiculous. Just for his penalty killing alone, Connolly deserves a roster spot. Also, he is a good leader on a young team. You should have your own guest spot on "Leafs Talk".
- Jimmy_Tea

Look at the last 10 to 20 stanley cup winners...they pretty much all had a solid #1 center if not 2 that could be #1. Obviously it is not the only thing needed to win a cup but it is as important imo as having a solid #1 defenseman and goalie. If the team is missing a star at a position, they better have a couple at the other positions to make up for it and even then it might not be enough.

Look at the last 10 to 20 stanley cup winners...they pretty much all had a solid #1 center if not 2 that could be #1. Obviously it is not the only thing needed to win a cup but it is as important imo as having a solid #1 defenseman and goalie. If the team is missing a star at a position, they better have a couple at the other positions to make up for it and even then it might not be enough.
- dcz28

hahaha because apparently, matt stajan, steen, connolly, bozak, antropov over the years really helped us or would of helped us in the playoffs regarding for a team to have a proper first line centerman.

Over the years of teams that won the cup:

LA- Centermans: kopitar, richards, carter
Boston- Seguin, Bergeron, etc
Chicago- Toews, Sharp
Pens- Malkin, Crosby, Staal
Detroit- Datsyuk, Franzen, Zetterberg played some center
Ducks- Getzlaf, Mcdonald, Rob Niedermayer,
Hurricanes- Staal Rob Brind'Amour, Doug Weight
Tampa- Brad Richards, Lecav

All have/had proper centermans and won a cup, we have none.

Look at the last 10 to 20 stanley cup winners...they pretty much all had a solid #1 center if not 2 that could be #1. Obviously it is not the only thing needed to win a cup but it is as important imo as having a solid #1 defenseman and goalie. If the team is missing a star at a position, they better have a couple at the other positions to make up for it and even then it might not be enough.
- dcz28

Just look at the centers for the last 5 cup winners.

Kopitar, Richards, Stoll
Bergeron, Krejci, Kelly/Peverly
Toews, Sharp, Bolland/Madden
Crosby, Malkin, Staal
Datsyuk, Zetterberg, Draper/Filpulla/Franzen

Even the runner ups were pretty good down the middle

Henrique, Zajac, Carter
Sedin, Kesler, Lapierre
Richards, Carter, Briere
Datsyuk, Zetterberg, Draper/Filpulla/Franzen
Crosby, Malkin, Staal

Its insane when people seem to think that they can skip out on center and make it up on the wings. Its the difference between Washington with all their scoring wingers and meh down the middle and Pittsburgh with talent down the middle and a bunch of rotating wingers.