Brian Burke is on the horizon, and the Leafs chances of winning a Stanley Cup have just been pushed even further back. Brian Burke is an overrated GM. He failed in Vancouver for 5 years, and aside from winning one cup with Anaheim, has done a pretty terrible job managing the cap since. Seriously, Bobby Ryan in the minors? I don't want a guy that won't hesitate to send down a blue chip prospect (drafted 2nd behind Crosby) to the minors, just to stay under the cap. Detroit wins the Cup, and still manages to sign Marian Hossa the next year. That is successful management. Brian Burke has been blown out of proportion by the always faithful Leaf fans. Since his name has been tossed around in rumors for the new Leaf GM job, radio call in junkies have mentioned him with some of the best GM's in the world, past and present.
If you sit down and actually break down his career, he has been somewhat of a Pat Quinn. Employing wash outs like Jyrki Lumme, Robert Reichel, Aki Berg etc... (who would not crack another NHL line up) while giving the boot to players like Andy McDonald, Steve Sullivan, and Jason Smith. That just doesn't make sense to your average Leaf fan. But it made sense to Pat Quinn, and it makes sense to Brian Burke. It just shows that their eye for talent is out of touch with reality. How could a die-hard Leaf fan, who only watches games from his couch at home know that Jyrki Lumme and Robert Reichel were unemployable outside of Toronto? How could a hardcore hockey fan know that Anaheim dishing off Andy McDonald instead of 2 million dollar players like Todd Marchant and Rob Niedermayer would be a bad idea? How do we see it, and they don't? It's called bad sports management, and it has plagued both gentlemen their entire respective careers. They haven't been terrible, they just haven't been great.
The latest Brian Burke blunder has him sending down NHL ready prospect Bobby Ryan, the player whom he chose 2nd overall behind Sydney Crosby in the 2005 NHL entry draft. That was over 3 years ago. Now if Bobby Ryan and his outstanding AHL stats aren't good enough for the NHL after all these years, than that is a horrible draft pick by Burke and the Ducks. However, that is not the case, Bobby Ryan some say was NHL ready last year, a season in which he was called up and sent down, and produced 10 points in 23 games, while putting up 49 points in 48 games in the AHL. He endured the rigors of going back and forth from Iowa to Anaheim for 1 season in hopes that he would have a regular spot saved for him the next year. Wrong, his spot was either given to Ryan Carter, or Brian Burkes forever loyalty to aging hasbeens such as Rob Niedermayer, Sami Pahlsson, Todd Marchant, or even better yet Brad May left Bobby Ryan no room. The issue here is Ryan's contract. With bonuses that Burke is convinced he'll achieve, he would be set to make $300,000 more than his original contract of just over a million dollars. So because of $300,000 a contract Burke negotiated, the best young prospect in Anaheim gets another year in the minors, where he currently has 16 points in 13 games. So what would be the point of bringing in Brian Burke only to have him draft us a player in the top 10 this year, and railroad him to the minors for the next 3 seasons due to poor money management, and throwing away money to guys like Brad May?
Brace ourselves Leaf fans, for we have to endure another 4/5 years of smokes and mirrors. MLSE one of the greatest illusionists out there have conducted another masterful plan. Or we can look at the upside and hope for another 4 years of Pat Quinn.
Posts
