For years it seemed, the Leafs opted to mortgage the future to win now. Under many GMs, the Leafs continually traded picks and prospects for win-now quick fixes. Most of the time, those quick fixes came back to bite them where the sun don't shine.
Such players include Brad Boyes (Owen Nolan deal), Tuukka Rask (Andrew Raycroft deal), Steve Sullivan (waived to make room for Dmitri Khristich of all people), and who can forget trading their first round pick in 1993 (Scott Niedermayer) for Tom Kurvers?
Due to this, the Leafs often enjoyed being at the bottom of the NHL's prospect ranking hierarchy.
Brian Burke started out his tenure making a very risky deal for Phil Kessel. Another deal in which the Leafs gave up multiple high picks for one player. Right now, Toronto has won the deal, but once Seguin proves himself in the NHL, that decision will more than likely shift.
Other than that, Burke has done a fairly good job of not sacrificing the future without getting something back that can help them in the longer run. For example, he traded prospects Viktor Stalberg, Chris Didomenico, and Phillippe Paradis, but got back youngsters ...
Read Full Article at Bleacher Report - NHL
Article written by Brad LeClair
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July 18th, 2010 by Brad LeClair Leave a reply »
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