Toronto Maple Leafs Ex-GM Hired By Penguins Is Terrible Mistake

The Toronto Maple Leafs could have built a team around two Hall of Fame players if not for the absolutely horrible performance by ex-GM Brian Burke.

To my everlasting shame, I was so happy when the Leafs signed Brian Burke to be their new GM back in 2009.  I was all-in on the Phil Kessel deal and in my first hockey article that I had published (in the Toronto Star) I talked with naivety about Tyler Bozak being on the same career path as Martin St. Louis.

I was over-the-moon about the Dion Phaneuf trade and only having three small children prevented me from buying a David Clarkson jersey the day he was signed.

Then I started to learn about advanced stats, measuring things, and the dangers of fighting.  I was converted from a pro-Burke pro-fighting pro-old-school hockey to whatever the complete opposite of that is.

A Ten Person Hiring Pool Is Inherently Bad, But Don’t Tell the NHL That

And unlike the NHL or Brian Burke, I am capable of learning new information and changing my mind.  Also, unlike Brian Burke, I’ve heard of and remember the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Had Burke been patient, smart, or in any way good at his job, he would have had Tyler Seguin and Dougie Hamilton to build around.  In at least one season, Seguin was the NHL’s second best player, and Hamilton has been the league’s best defenseman (even if he wasn’t recognized with a trophy) for several years now.

And if that was all Burke did, it wouldn’t matter. But he loaded the team with enforcers, was not prepared for managing a salary cap, couldn’t understand that his best player was named Mikhail Grabovski, and that just scratches the surface of his horrible regime as Leafs GM.

The reason I bring this is up is that, amazingly, two other NHL teams have hired Burke to run them since he was fired by the Leafs, with cause, for being absolutely awful at his job.  I take respite from the fact that his nonsense and annoying personality won’t be ruining the intermission of Leafs games with nonsense about William Nylander, but it’s sad to see how stuck in the past the NHL is.

There must be 30 000 people who would be perfectly capable of running an NHL team, but the NHL limits their hiring pool to ten  people.  In no other industry is constant failure rewarded with constant job offers.   It’s a bummer.

I feel bad because the twilight years of Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin will now be wasted by a guy who has no clue how to operate a team in 2021. It’s frankly amazing that a corporation like  Toronto Maple Leafs Sports and Entertainment was willing to take a risk and hire someone young, smart, and capable of new, original and creative thought.  But Sid never had a chance: the list of candidates who interviewed for the job reads like a list of people you’d never want running a team you cheered for: Mark Hunter, John Ferguson Jr (seriously), Mike Gillis, and……well you get the point.  It’s a wonder they didn’t hire Peter Chiarelli!

The Penguins loss is the Toronto Maple Leafs gain, but it’s bad for the sport.  And it’s depressing.  Burke was the single biggest TV star in the league post-Don Cherry, and he also had the absolute worst, bottom-of-the-barrel ideas and opinions, delivered with a completely undeserved arrogance.

It was hard to watch and I’m glad I don’t have to anymore. If the league’s most prominent analyst weren’t also the guys propagating and profiting from this delusional thinking that says only ancient classic hockey guys can to the job, teams would probably look at what Kyle Dubas has accomplished and look for the next version of him.  But, that is what happens when the people who are supposed to analyze and criticize are just auditioning for another shot in the old boys’ club.