Fans, media and Leaf haters alike are quick to jump down the throat of Brian Burke for the infamous Phil Kessel trade because of the sacrifice of two first round picks and a second rounder .
This majority argues that the Leafs brass, namely Burke, sacrificed the club's future by trying to catch lightning in a bottle rather than going the traditional route of building through the draft, a method that they pointed out worked wonders for the Penguins, Blackhawks and Capitals.
At the same time these "experts" conveniently failed to mention that the endeavour didn't go so well for the likes of the Islanders, Panthers, Blue Jackets and Thrashers.
Before anybody starts thinking that I consume large amounts of Brian Burke-flavoured Kool-Aid, realize that if I had been in Burke's position I probably would have avoided the Kessel trade, and the Beauchemin and Komisarek signings as well.
I would have instead opted for the popular strategy of bottoming out and obtaining a few top-five picks (Stamkos and Doughty, for example), and built around them. John Ferguson Jr started the Leafs down the path to attempting a quick rebuild by committing too many ...
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Article written by Joey Wilson
Toronto Maple Leafs Quickie Rebuild: Could Brian Burke Be onto Something?
January 17th, 2011 by Joey Wilson Leave a reply »
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