Mikhail Bloodnovsky
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I say let him finish his contract so he has 1 more year after this season. Then new ownership can evaluate then and chose to replace or re-sign him.
The Brian Burke Thread
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I think all of you can agree with me when I say that I am pissed. What a steep drop off in the last 16 games or so. The more I think about it, I think that Burke needs to step off his own self-imposed "morals" where he won't sign players to long term contracts. I look at how last summer transpired and we could have had our #1 center in Brad Richards instead of Tim Connolly. Would we be where the Rangers are right now or at least in the playoff picture if we had Brad Richards? We want high end talent such as Richards and Nash, but why are we so boneheaded about it where we have to expend assets to get it? Why can't we overpay a little for Richards who is a known commodity and pretty much a sure thing? I just think this season would be completely different with a Richards or whoever when all it costs is money. If it doesn't work out, you trade him. Look at Gomez. If he can be traded, anyone can.
We_Miss_Sundin
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Fire Burke... Look at his track record here in Toronto, he's incapable of steering this team in the right direction. Get him the eff outta here!
Corn Flake
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Sarge said:
I think for anyone to suggest they don't have a plan is crazy. To say they don't have one suggests they just sit back and do whatever comes to mind that day/week/month and make moves as they feel like it. Billion dollar organizations and pro sports teams (MLSE is both) don't operate like that. Well, most don't and this one isn't one of those for sure.
Is the plan working is a different question all together. Well that is up for plenty of debate that is all over the place.
I know Burke has said a lot of things publicly and came in with a lot of bravado, but I look at the actions rather than the loud words, and other than a few moves early on that appear short sighted (mostly because they didn't pan out.. ie: Komisarek), the numerous trades from the last 2 years that resulted in plenty of young talent coming in in return for older players, and most of that talent still in development stages in the AHL, its hard for me to see where you can say his plan is not still in progress.
In short, the plan to me is build a contending team by stockpiling young talent but at the same time try to not be a complete laughing stock. the former half of the plan is on track.. the latter.. not so much.
By the way this season is finishing up, the blue chipper (aka franchise player) we are missing might be closer than we think.
Corn Flake
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Tigger said:
I'm saying it is when you look at the percentages. Any large corporation that can gain 10-20% net profit is going to bend over backwards to make that money.
I have worked for many large corporations and I work for one now. 10-20% is huge. No question.
pnjunction
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Sarge said:
Having a plan doesn't mean much really. I always have a plan for losing weight, decorating my apartment, buying nicer clothes, etc... Then in a few months when all of those plans have failed miserably, I have other plans....
maplesyrup
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pnjunction said:
You don't make a career though out of losing weight, decorating your apartment, buying nicer clothes, tying you shoes or, contemplating your navel.
pnjunction
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Sarge said:
So? My point was that plans in any situation are only good if they actually happen and work out. Also when they don't you can just make up a new plan and still say you have a plan. All of the worst GMs ever had plans.
maplesyrup
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pnjunction said:
My point is there is much more at stake in ensuring the Leaf's plan goes ahead as designed than the examples you used. Sure, not all plans unfold without obstacles but there are folks being paid large amounts of money to deal with them.
JFJ had a plan. Look at where it go him.
But seriously, I don't fault Burke at this point in time. I am willing to give him some rope. He started with almost nothing and has come a long way in just 2.5yrs. I'd let him show me how his prospects develop. If Ashton Kutcher... err... I mean Carter Ashton plays like he did last night every game or at least most, then I'd be pretty happy. Guys like him and hopefully the other players that Burke drafted or acquired can become solid to elite players in the NHL.
But seriously, I don't fault Burke at this point in time. I am willing to give him some rope. He started with almost nothing and has come a long way in just 2.5yrs. I'd let him show me how his prospects develop. If Ashton Kutcher... err... I mean Carter Ashton plays like he did last night every game or at least most, then I'd be pretty happy. Guys like him and hopefully the other players that Burke drafted or acquired can become solid to elite players in the NHL.
Sarge said:
So while Burke's plan was to get bigger, stronger, more truculent, but with skill, it doesn't mean he always has the opportunity to do that. Not every team is willing to give up a Getzlaf at Burke's whim. He has to work with what is given to him and he didn't have much as far as prospects to trade away to land a Getzlaf. So, ya, he's striving to staying on the plan, but sometimes the deals are just not there. i.e. Would you have now wanted the Leafs to have traded away a whole bunch of prospects and our first rounder this year with the way things have unfolded? I don't think Nash coming in here would have turned this team around.
Ya, this season has sucked, but we have to think long term. Let's not be so impatient to mortgage our future once again and continue this 47yr trend into the next decade.
maplesyrup
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jonlleafs said:
Like I said, I don't know what the plan is much less how flexible it is when parts of it run in to obstacles or dead ends but I do believe there is one... I don't think things are running completely on the fly over there.
I would not fire Burke.
The attribute that I find most worrisome about him is his stated refusal to bend the league rules to the limit in terms of attaching long tails to player contracts to effectively get players at a lower salary cap cost than they are worth. Most of the top-earning teams in the league (Philly, Rangers, Chicago, Vancouver, NJ) have done this and it gives those teams a competitive advantage over poor teams + toronto, which don't. I want Toronto's GM to lie and cheat his way to the top if necessary (but not get caught). I'm serious. Chivalry be damned. I deserve a winning team.
Aside from that, there are a number of things about Burke's approach which seem reasonable. Most importantly, he's (mostly) signing intermediate guys to short contracts. He should continue to trade those guys for draft picks or promising prospects when their contracts approach termination and then grab new UFAs. Rinse and repeat. I was disappointed this year when we told that there were very few sellers and the seller prices were very high -- supply and demand dictates this is the ideal time to sell a guy like Maccarthur or Liles. Of course, not knowing what was actually offered, it is hard to say if there actually were any deals on the table that might have made sense for the leafs.
The worst thing to do, in my opinion, is to tell Burke, or any GM that he has 1 year left and that his renewal depends upon the team performance that year. This will incentivize the GM in to short-term, one-year, Rask-for-Raycroft deals that will put Toronto further behind. For the love of God, do not demand that Burke has to deliver a successful team next year or get fired. It is a recipe for disaster. It is far better to fire him now.
In general, the only intelligent thing to do with a GM is to make a careful, well-research decision before hiring him. Then, once you commit, you must commit for a very long time. Give the GM the leeway to make the hard short term decisions that set the team back for a number of years in the short term. Remember, any player aside from a top-5 pick is going to take 3 years after his draft year to start giving you anything reasonable. Hence, a 5-year time frame only gives you a chance to pick 2 (non-top-5) 1st-round players and have them even begin to make an impact.
The attribute that I find most worrisome about him is his stated refusal to bend the league rules to the limit in terms of attaching long tails to player contracts to effectively get players at a lower salary cap cost than they are worth. Most of the top-earning teams in the league (Philly, Rangers, Chicago, Vancouver, NJ) have done this and it gives those teams a competitive advantage over poor teams + toronto, which don't. I want Toronto's GM to lie and cheat his way to the top if necessary (but not get caught). I'm serious. Chivalry be damned. I deserve a winning team.
Aside from that, there are a number of things about Burke's approach which seem reasonable. Most importantly, he's (mostly) signing intermediate guys to short contracts. He should continue to trade those guys for draft picks or promising prospects when their contracts approach termination and then grab new UFAs. Rinse and repeat. I was disappointed this year when we told that there were very few sellers and the seller prices were very high -- supply and demand dictates this is the ideal time to sell a guy like Maccarthur or Liles. Of course, not knowing what was actually offered, it is hard to say if there actually were any deals on the table that might have made sense for the leafs.
The worst thing to do, in my opinion, is to tell Burke, or any GM that he has 1 year left and that his renewal depends upon the team performance that year. This will incentivize the GM in to short-term, one-year, Rask-for-Raycroft deals that will put Toronto further behind. For the love of God, do not demand that Burke has to deliver a successful team next year or get fired. It is a recipe for disaster. It is far better to fire him now.
In general, the only intelligent thing to do with a GM is to make a careful, well-research decision before hiring him. Then, once you commit, you must commit for a very long time. Give the GM the leeway to make the hard short term decisions that set the team back for a number of years in the short term. Remember, any player aside from a top-5 pick is going to take 3 years after his draft year to start giving you anything reasonable. Hence, a 5-year time frame only gives you a chance to pick 2 (non-top-5) 1st-round players and have them even begin to make an impact.
Kin
New member
jonlleafs said:
But that's a perfect example of why Burke's construction of the team has been so flawed. If you don't aim to add elite talent through the draft you're putting yourself at the mercy of the whims of players in free agency and other GM's in trades. As we've seen Burke's attempts to add elite players through trade have resulted in him either having to pay another GM's exorbitant price(Kessel) or adding players who other teams are fine to get rid of(Phaneuf). Adding talent on the FA market has been difficult because elite FA's often want deals Burke is unwilling to give or have no interest in coming to Toronto regardless.
So, to me anyway, it seems like a "plan" that was highly dependent on luck or things breaking the team's way. You can call that a plan, sure, in the same way I can call throwing bones at a craps table my plan to get wealthy.
#1PilarFan
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I don't see any reason why their margins would not remain constant.Optimus Reimer said:
In fact, players don't get paid during the playoffs, so you can subtract player salaries (and, all full time staff salaries) from their playoff operating expenses because those are already part of the regular season's operating expenses.
Bottom line is any the goal of any business is to max out their revenue streams. MLSE has not done that with any of their franchises and I am sure they would love to.
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