Hearing the Toronto Maple Leafs fired Brian Burke shortly after the National Hockey League lockout ended was shocking to say the least.
As Burke described the news, "it was like getting hit in the head by a two-by-four."
The timing just didn't make any sense. Why not fire him at the end of last year if they weren't happy with his 2011-12 13th-place finish in the Eastern Conference. At least let him go before he traveled to Ufa to scout the 2013 world junior championship.
It simply wasn't fair to Burke to be strung along throughout the offseason and NHL lockout. He worked too hard for the Leafs organization to be backed door at the last minute.
The consensus among Toronto media is that Burke's abrasive attitude played a part in his firing. His new bosses, Bell and Rogers, didn't want a general manger that would tell them where to go when they questioned his trades or signings.
It also has been speculated that Burke's run-ins with the media were a concern of Bell and Rogers. After all, Bell owns TSN and Rogers owns SportsNet. No business wants to see their employees hit heads with one another, especially on national television.
Despite the poor timing of the firing, the Leafs organization can make a case to justify their decision to part ways with Burke, who earned $4 million a year. He never made the playoffs during his four-year tenure with the club. He also failed to bring in a top-line centre, No. 1 goaltender, and lost a deal with the Boston Bruins that sent three draft picks, which turned out to be Tyler Seguin, Dougie Hamilton, and Jared Knight, to Boston for Phil Kessel.
Nonetheless, that is not to say all of the days with Burke as the architect were rainy ones. He made a handful of trades that have been considered greatly one sided in his favour.
Trading Francois Beauchemin to the Anaheim Ducks for Jake Gardiner and Joffrey Lupul sticks out as Burke's top deal. Beauchemin, a 32-year-old defenceman, has looked average at best since joining the Ducks. Meanwhile, Lupul was named an all-star last year and Gardiner blossomed in his rookie season in Toronto, netting 30 points from the back end.
Another Ducks deal that worked out in Burke's favour was sending Jason Blake and Vesa Toskala to Anaheim for J. S Giguere. Most believed Blake was untradeable with his $4 million cap hit because of his lack of scoring success. Yet Burke found a new home for him and managed to toss in Toskala to boot.
On the same day as the Giguere deal on January 31, 2010, Burke robbed former Calgary Flames GM Darryl Sutter. He acquired hard-nosed defenceman Dion Phaneuf along with Keith Aulie and Fredrick Sjostrom from Sutter for practically spare parts, sending Niklas Hagman, Ian White, Matt Stajan, and Jamal Mayers the other way.
Although Phaneuf hasn't quite lived up to expectations in Toronto, the deal is still thought to be one of the worst deals in Flames' history.
Burke's most recent lopsided trade happened at the 2011 trade deadline. He sent blueliner Tomas Kaberle to the Boston Bruins for Joe Colborne, a first-round pick, and a second-round pick. He later traded up that first rounder to draft Oshawa Generals power-forward Tyler Biggs and traded the second rounder to the Colorado Avalanche for puck-moving defenceman John-Michael Liles.
Despite Colborne's recent struggles in the American Hockey League this year, Liles' strong showing since joining the Leafs and Biggs' potential to develop into a sandpaper winger easily gives Burke the win in that deal because of Kaberle's lackluster performance with the Bruins.
All that being said, it seems Burke hasn't brought in the right young players to build a team around.
Although Kessel's four-consecutive 30-plus goal seasons proves he's an incredible talent, he isn't the right guy to build an offense around. He just doesn't have the swagger like Wendel Clark had or the complete game Chicago Blackhawks star Jonathon Toews has. He fits into the same category as players such as former Edmonton Oilers star Jari Kurri, Blackhawks sniper Marian Hossa, and Anaheim Ducks winger Corey Perry. They're important pieces for their clubs, but they aren't their franchise's cornerstones.
Burke chose Phaneuf as his squad's team captain.
The 6-foot-3, 215-pound defenceman undoubtedly has swagger, elite skill, toughness, and character.
However, Phaneuf has to be partially held responsible for Toronto's collapse last season. When they dropped in the standings out of the playoff race, he wasn't able to lead his squad back in the right direction.
Maple Leafs Sports Entertainment going with Dave Nonis, Burke's former assistant GM, as their new GM shows they don't want to completely turn the team in a new direction because of Nonis' similar management style to Burke.
This is actually the second time Nonis has taken over a team from Burke after being his assistant. Nonis became the GM of the Vancouver Canucks in 2004 after they let Burke go.
Nonis inherited a much better looking club than Burke did from John Ferguson Jr., the Leafs GM from 2003-08.
Burke left Nonis a solid group of prospects in the junior ranks and farm system such as Moose Jaw Warriors defenceman Morgan Rielly, who was the No. 5 pick in the 2012 draft, Stuart Percy, 2011 first rounder, Tyler Biggs, 2011 first rounder, Brad Ross, 2010 second rounder, Greg McKegg, 2010 third rounder, and Nazem Kadri, 2009 first rounder.
He also left Nonis with a good young group of roster players, including Kessel, Lupul, Matt Frattin, Nikolia Kulemin, Gardiner, and Carl Gunnarsson.
Nevertheless, Nonis now needs to do what Burke failed to do, which was make the playoffs, bring in a and a No. 1 goaltender, and a top-line centre.
It seems Vancouver Canucks puck-stopper Roberto Loungo could cross two of those tasks off Nonis' list.
Burke was after Loungo in the offseason. But he failed to pull the trigger on a deal because of Canucks GM Mike Gillis' high asking price.
Nonis is also rumoured to be after Loungo.
However, no different from Burke, Nonis isn't willing to sell the farm for Loungo.
Down the middle, Anaheim Ducks centre Ryan Getzlaf makes sense as a player to target. He is set to become an unrestricted free agent this summer. If the Ducks are unable to sign him, it seems he will be on the market by the trade deadline.
Nonis' first game as the Leafs GM takes place on Jan. 19 when Toronto squares off against the Montreal Canadiens with Randy Carlyle behind their bench
