Anybody that could do any sort of between the line reading Friday night likely discerned that the 2009 Entry Draft didn’t exactly go according to Brian Burke’s script. Burke’s facial expressions of increasing malcontent as the night wore on were rather telling as well as symbolic of his role on the draft floor as the crabby unpopular uncle that sits in the corner all night. The fact of the matter is that Burke did a lot of track covering last night for what was much more of a mess than he’ll ever let on. It’s not that his draft choice in Nazem Kadri was all that disastrous – not at all – but moreso the fact that drafting Kadri was at best his Plan C. Kadri’s a promising top 6 prospect and deserves his fair shake, but there’s no doubt that Burke realized there was a player or two just a couple picks earlier that would’ve addressed a greater organizational need. I don’t think Kadri’s quite the core franchise player Burke was seeking and missed out on in Brayden Schenn.
Firstly, I don’t buy for a second that the plan was to acquire a top 5 as well as retain the #7. A) The plan was to move up, and that’s not even technically moving up. That’s trading for an additional pick. B) If that was the plan, there was no way in hell it was ever going to be realized.
My worry about what transpired Friday night is that Burke let his ego play a major role in his thinking and approach and it resulted in a lot of pissed off GMs and squashed deals. There is growing concern among insiders that the broken-down Kaberle – Kessel deal was actually pulled by Chiarelli as a result of Burke a) shopping the deal about to potential suitors for way too long, and b) Burke leaking information to the media as a ploy to up the ante. How hard is it to believe that two general managers at the top of their business confused the details of a major trade and for that long? One can’t help but think a better result could’ve been achieved yesterday with a little more restraint. Negotiating GMs would have zero appreciation for Burke using the media as a median for indirect negotiation or attempts to influence movement. It’s not just Chiarelli, but you certainly got the sense that both Waddell and Lombardi were more than a little begrudged by Burke’s tactics this week. For a respected man considered a stand-up professional by many in the business in Dean Lombardi, it was rather shocking to read in yesterday’s LA Times the intimation by writer Helene Elliot that Lombardi was reveling in Burke’s disgust upon his drafting of Brayden Schenn. This is a strong indicator of just how much feather-ruffling Burke performed over the weekend as well as how his employed tactics did him no favours in trying to achieve his ultimate goal of moving up.
It all seems to be symptomatic of some ego issues with Burke in that it indicates he must be perceived as fleecing a club before he pulls the trigger on a deal. We wouldn’t have been any happier probably should Burke have panicked and overpaid to move up in the draft, but he should’ve probably eased up on the self-promotion then knowing that first round draft pick value is at an all-time premium. The fact that that no movement took place over the weekend is a strong indication that no Leaf roster players outside of Kaberle and Schenn have favourable ratings among Burke’s fellow GMs but it is also an indication that something is askew here: either Burke overvalues his assets or his ego is too large to move them for a minimal return. And either way it’s a detriment.
To this point, Burke’s managed to skate by on reputation alone but at some point his actions must be the basis for our judgment. For my money, Burke came off as arrogant, overconfident in his own abilities and even inexperienced this weekend. One can’t help but wonder how much Burke’s ego played a role in his draft choices on day two. I’d really like to pose the question: was Jaime Devane truly on your radar more than 5 minutes before your pick? Okay, maybe that’s a bit ridiculous, but how about this: were you really concerned that you couldn’t have picked him up much later than the third round? His second day picks, although representative of a certain Burkean philosophy, don’t seem to address the real concern that is this club’s lack of organizational talent. While both Kadri and hopefully Bozak will help, Burke still has thus far come up short in addressing that. Does he have time to make his mark? Obviously, and it’s not like any sort of irrevocable damage has been committed here. It just seems that a little more realism and follow-through and a little less bluster and egotism are in order headed into the summer.
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June 29th, 2009 at 10:57 pm
Why doesn’t everone relax? Rome wasn’t built in a day. And the Leafs aren’t going to win any cups soon either. All of you knew what Burke was when he was hired. He is brash and straight forward. And Very refreshing from the b.s that was fed us for years. I for one like what he has done with Hanson, Bozek, Slaney, Stalberg and hopefully Gustavsson. Maybe some of them will be stars, maybe none, but at least he is trying. I didn’t hear of any other G.M.s doing much signing of undrafted kids. Maybe Burke is a loud mouth, maybe he is arrogant. You know what, maybe that is what the leaf nation needed. Now I don’t know for sure. I don’t have a magic crystal ball like some of you apparently do. But you know what, I would sooner have Burke than 10 JRF, or 20 Harold ballards and will wait at least 3 to 4 years before I star blowing my gasket about this draft. And finally why don’t some of you check to see where Zettleberg go drafted and some of the other 200+ picks that turned out to be gems. To the guy that said he couldn’t find Devine winning any fights try here. http://www.dropyourgloves.com/fights/FightCard.aspx?Player=33225&League=9&Season=2009 Seem he had even fought a guy many of you would have drafted and won and lost one. Zack Kassian.
Anyways I’ll leave it at that.
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