Grading Every Brian Burke Trade as the Toronto Maple Leafs G.M.
After winning the Stanley Cup in his previous job, Brian Burke was looked upon as the team’s savior when he was hired as Toronto Maple Leafs General Manager in November, 2008.
Unfortunately for the Toronto Maple Leafs, the success that Burke saw with the Anaheim Ducks did not transition to his new stint in Toronto.
When Burke was hired as the President and G.M. of the Leafs, it was a big deal. Burke had experience and a winning pedigree.
During his time with the Vancouver Canucks, Burke was famous for drafting Daniel and Henrik Sedin, and had a winning record during his six years with the team.
Following his time in Vancouver, Burke joined the Anaheim Ducks where his team would win the Stanley Cup in 2006-07. Burke’s gritty and tough style was apparent during that championship season, as the team fought their way through the Western Conference before beating Ottawa in the final.
Burke loved ‘old-school’ hockey and wanted his teams tough. Although the NHL was slowly changing away from that, Burke never changed his way.
Hired as the Leafs G.M. in November 2008, Burke’s first order of business was toughness, and it didn’t take long before his team saw players like Colton Orr and Jay Rosehill fill the roster.
With 41 total trades, including nine (!) with Anaheim, I’ll grade every trade but only provide insight on the bigger deals going in chronological order. (info from nhltradetracker.com).
Trade #1 – Toronto trades Robbie Earl to Minnesota Wild for Ryan Hamilton – January 7, 2009
Grade: B –
Trade #2 – Toronto trades 2010 Conditional 6th Round Pick (Not Exercised) to Anaheim Ducks for Brad May – January 21, 2009
Grade: C –
Trade #3 – Toronto trades Dominic Moore to Buffalo Sabres for 2009 2nd Round Pick (Jesse Blacker) – March 4, 2009
Thoughts: Acquiring a 2nd Round Pick for Moore was awesome value. Only trouble was that they didn’t capitalize on it as they could have drafted someone like Tyson Barrie or Brayden McNabb instead of Blacker.
Grade: B
Trade #4 – Toronto trades Nik Antropov to New York Rangers for 2009 2nd Round Pick (Kenny Ryan) and 2010 Conditional 4th Round Pick – March 4 2009
Thoughts: As a pending UFA, Burke found good value with this trade for a player nearing the end of his career. Although they once again gained a high draft pick, they weren’t able to find a future NHLer in Kenny Ryan, who never played a game.
Grade: B-
Trade #5 – Toronto trades Richard Petiot to Tampa Bay Lightning for Jamie Heward, Olaf Kolzig, Andy Rogers and 2009 4th Round Pick – March 4, 2009
Grade: C
Trade #6 – Toronto trades Future Considerations to Tampa Bay Lightning for Jay Rosehill – March 10, 2009
Grade: C-
Trade #7 – Toronto trades Pavel Kubina and Tim Stapleton to Atlanta Thrashers for Garnet Exelby and Colin Stuart – July 1, 2009
Grade: D
Trade #8 – Toronto trades Anton Stralman, Colin Stuart & 2012 7th Round Pick to Calgary Flames for Wayne Primeau, 2011 2nd Round Pick (Brandon Saad) – July 27, 2009
Thoughts: Stralman turned into a very steady defenseman for years, while Primeau retired at the end of the year. This trade could have been saved if they kept the draft pick and Saad became a Leaf, but unfortunately they traded it away a few months later.
Grade: D –
Trade #9- Toronto trades Justin Pogge to Anaheim Ducks for 2011 conditional pick (Dennis Robertson) – August 10, 2009
Grade: C
Trade #10 – Toronto trades 2011 2nd Round Pick (Brandon Saad) & 2011 3rd Round Pick (Michael Paliotta) to Chicago Blackhawks for 2010 2nd Round Pick (Jared Knight) – September 5, 2009
Grade: D
Trade #11 – Toronto trades 2010 1st Round Pick (Tyler Seguin), 2010 2nd Round Pick (Jared Knight) & 2011 1st Round Pick (Dougie Hamilton) to Boston Bruins for Phil Kessel – September 18, 2009
Thoughts: When Burke made this trade, he didn’t expect his team to have the second overall pick, but unfortunately it happened and the Toronto Maple Leafs missed out on the second best player in the 2010 draft.
The next year’s pick was just as bad, as Dougie Hamilton has gone on to become one of the very best defenseman of his era.
Kessel was one of the better goal scorers in Toronto Maple Leafs history but this trade never needed to happen as the Leafs leveraged too much of their future for Toronto to only play in one playoff series during Kessel’s six years with the team.
Grade: F –
Trade #12 – Toronto trades Jiri Tlusty to Carolina Hurricanes for Philippe Paradis – December 3, 2009
Grade: D
Trade #13 – Toronto trades Jason Blake & Vesa Toskala to Anaheim Ducks for Jean-Sebastien Giguere – January 31, 2010
Thoughts: Burke was able to shed Jason Blake’s contract and get rid of a struggling Vesa Toskala, while J.S. Giguere was a serviceable back-up during his short-stint in Toronto.
Grade: B-
Trade #14 – Toronto trades Niklas Hagman, Jamal Mayers, Matt Stajan & Ian White to Calgary Flames for Keith Aulie, Dion Phaneuf & Fredrik Sjostrom – January 31, 2010
Thoughts: Stajan had a nice career in Calgary, but overall the Leafs still got the best player in this trade with Dion Phaneuf. Criticize Phaneuf all you want, he was still a top-pairing defenseman for years on the Leafs back-end.
Grade: B +
Trade #15 – Toronto trades Alexei Ponikarovsky to Pittsburgh Penguins for Luca Caputi & Martin Skoula – March 2, 2010
Grade: C
Trade #16 – Toronto trades 2010 6th Round Pick (Joe Rogalski) to Pittsburgh Penguins for Chris Peluso – March 3, 2010
Grade: C
Trade #17 – Toronto trades Lee Stempniak to Arizona Coyotes for Matt Jones, 2010 4th Round Pick (Philipp Grubauer) and 2010 7th Round Pick (Kellen Jones) – March 3, 2010
Grade: D
Trade #18 – Toronto trades Martin Skoula to New Jersey Devils for 2010 5th Round Pick (Sam Carrick) – March 3, 2010
Grade: B
Trade #19 – Toronto trades Joey MacDonald to Anaheim Ducks for 2011 7th Round Pick (Max Everson) – March 3, 2010
Grade: C
Trade #20 – Toronto trades 2010 7th Round Pick (Kellen Jones) to Edmonton Oilers for 2011 6th Round Pick (David Broll) – June 26, 2010
Grade: C+
Trade #21 – Toronto trades Jimmy Hayes to Chicago Blackhawks for 2010 2nd Round Pick (Bradley Ross) – June 26, 2010
Grade: D –
Trade #22- Toronto trades 2010 4th round pick (Philipp Grubauer) to Washington Capitals for 2010 4th Round Pick (Petter Granberg) & 2010 5th Round Pick (Daniel Brodin) – June 26, 2010
Grade: D
Trade #23 – Toronto trades 2010 5th Round Pick (Chris Wagner) to Anaheim Ducks for Mike Brown – June 26, 2010
Grade: B
Trade #24 – Toronto trades 2012 3rd Round Pick to Los Angeles Kings for 2010 3rd Round Pick (Sondre Olden)
Grade: C
Trade #25 – Toronto trades Christopher Didomenico, Philippe Paradis & Viktor Stalberg to Chicago Blackhawks for Kris Versteeg & Bill Sweatt – June 30, 2010
Grade: B+
Trade #26 – Toronto trades Alex Berry & Stefano Giliati to Tampa Bay Lightning for Matt Lashoff – August 27, 2010
Grade: C+
Trade #27 – Toronto trades Mikhail Stefanovich to Toronto for Fabian Brunnstrom – January 13, 2011
Grade: C
Trade #28 – Toronto trades Francois Beauchemin to Anaheim Ducks for Jake Gardiner, Joffery Lupul & 2013 conditional 4th Round Pick – February 9, 2011
Thoughts: Lupul rejuvenated his career in Toronto for a few years, while Jake Gardiner turned into a great – if underappreciated – defenseman with Toronto. Burke’s knowledge of Gardiner and Lupul was huge during this trade.
Grade: A
Trade #29 – Toronto trades Kris Versteeg to Philadelphia Flyers for 2011 1st Round Pick (Stuart Percy) & 2011 3rd Round Pick (Josh Leivo) – February 14, 2011
Thoughts: A first round pick for Versteeg was a great deal by Burke. Unfortunately their scouting department did an awful job with Percy, but they made up for it with the drafting of Leivo.
Grade: B+
Trade #30 – Toronto trades Conditional 2011 7th Round Pick (not exercised) to Anaheim Ducks for Aaron Voros
Grade: C
Trade #31 – Toronto trades Tomas Kaberle to Boston Bruins for Joe Colborne, 2011 1st Round Pick (Rickard Rakell) & 2012 conditional 2nd Round Pick – February 18, 2011
Thoughts: If the Leafs didn’t eventually trade away the Rakell pick this could have been an A+ deal, but overall they got a good package for Kaberle here.
Grade: B+
Trade #32 – Toronto trades John Mitchell to New York Rangers for 2012 7th Round Pick – February 28, 2011
Grade: C –
Trade #33 – Toronto trades 2012 2nd Round Pick to Colorado Avalanche for John-Michael Liles – June 24, 2011
Grade: D –
Trade #34 – Toronto trades 2011 1st Round Pick (Rickard Rakell) and 2011 2nd Round Pick (John Gibson) to Anaheim Ducks for 2011 1st Round Pick (Tyler Biggs) – June 24, 2011
Thoughts: Hinesight is 20/20 and you never know what draft picks will turn into, but Burke essentially traded a 30-goal scorer and starting NHL All-Star goaltender for a tough-guy who could barely crack an AHL team… YIKES!
Grade: F – – – – –
Trade #35- Toronto trades 2011 6th Round Pick (Josh Manson) to Toronto for 2012 6th Round Pick – July 3, 2011
Grade: D
Trade #36 – Toronto trades 2012 4th round pick to New Jersey Devils for Dave Steckel – October 4, 2011
Grade: C
Trade #37 – Toronto trades Luca Caputi to Anaheim Ducks for Nicolas Deschamps – January 3, 2012
Grade: C
Trade #38 – Toronto trades Keith Aulie to Tampa Bay Lightning for Carter Ashton – February 27, 2012
Grade: C+
Trade #39 – Toronto trades Dale Mitchell to Anaheim Ducks for Mark Fraser – February 27, 2012
Grade: B
Trade #40 – Toronto trades 2012 conditional 7th Round Pick to Winnipeg Jets for Jonas Gustavvson – June 22, 2012
Grade: C
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Trade #41 – Toronto Maple Leafs trade Luke Schenn to Philadelphia Flyers for James Van Riemsdyk – June 23, 2012
Thoughts: Burke’s last trade as G.M. with the Toronto Maple Leafs may have been his best deal. ‘JVR’ provided four 20-goal seasons in Toronto, including a career high 36 in 2017-18, while Schenn was never the same player he was early into his Leafs career.
Grade: A +
Overall, Brian Burke was a terrible general manager, but when you lay it all out like this, it looks even worse than you remember. He made a lot of trades and only two of them were any good, but not good enough to account for setting the team back for years by trading away two likely hall of famers for Phil Kessel.