With Brian Burke's instant fix plan not working, will the Leafs GM make significant changes?
Nothing like a victory over the can't-score Florida Panthers to turn things around, huh?
Kidding.
Truth is, the Toronto Maple Leafs are at yet another crossroads. Their season is a dud (what a shock!) and the future doesn't look too bright. There are some things to smile about, such as the play of young goaltender James Reimer and the resurgence of Mikhail Grabovski, but mostly it is a repeat of a long and boring string of seasons in which the promises that were made to the fans at the start of the year failed to materialize.
So what is the plan moving forward? Doesn't Brian Burke, the team's president and general manager, owe the fans some explanation of what his vision of the future is? He may not verbalize his plan, but in the next three weeks we may get a better understanding of what he is going to do to turn things around.
Surely he has to do something.
Burke's original plan, the one in which the Maple Leafs were going to get better over night, was a flop. The confident and bold-speaking Burke brought in veteran defencemen Mike Komisarek and Francois Beauchemin, tough guy Colton Orr and traded for Phil Kessel, Jean-Sebastien Giguere and Dion Phaneuf, all players who made an impact one way or another before arriving in Toronto. And yet, the Maple Leafs are no better now and arguably worse than before those guys arrived.
Pugnacity? Testosterone? Truculence? Hmm, sounded good at the time…hasn't exactly come to fruition, though.
The instant fix rarely, if ever, works.
Now the good people of Leafs Nation are waiting to see what Burke will do to make amends. His reputation has taken a pounding in Toronto and he'll be even less popular if he doesn't make a few moves to give people some much-needed hope for the future.
It must be noted: the timing of this much-desired, must-required boost for the future of his hockey team could not come at a worse time for Burke, who lost his son, Brendan, nearly a year ago.
Surely by time the trade deadline rolls around Feb. 28, Burke will have given up his pie-in-the-sky hopes of making the playoffs this season. He's big on saying what he thinks fans want to hear, but you'd have to imagine he's also realistic enough to know it ain't happening this year. This team has been out of playoff contention since before Christmas and truthfully, probably a lot earlier than that.
Making significant changes will not be easy given the no-trade and no-movement clauses some of the players he'd like to trade or move have in their contracts. Mind you, given the state of this organization, it probably wouldn't be too difficult to convince a few of them to waive such clauses.
Will Burke be able, once and for all, to trade defenceman Tomas Kaberle? As good as he has been throughout most of his career in Toronto, the team hasn't won with him and it's time to see if it can without him. If Kaberle still has any trade value, the time has come for him to go. The fact he is not close to being the impact player he was a few years ago means the Leafs can't expect to get back nearly what they might have two years ago. Who knows, though, perhaps some team envisions him being revived in a new setting.
You'd have to think it would be next to impossible for Burke to move Giguere and his monster contract, which will have in the neighborhood of $2 million remaining at the deadline, but why else would he be Toronto's starting goalie Tuesday? The Leafs must be showcasing Giguere hoping he'll perform well and convince somebody his wonky groin can make it through another long playoff run.
There have been rumors that teams are interested in Kris Versteeg. Can't really think of any reason why, even though he was acquired just last summer, he'd be an untouchable, can you? When the Leafs got him, they figured he'd be a player who would guarantee them a spot in this spring's playoffs.
One thing about Burke, he does manage to pull rabbits out of hats. He thrives on pulling off the unexpected. Also, he won't rest until he makes good on his promise to make the Leafs a winner. My guess is, prior to or on the Feb. 28 trade deadline, he'll do something significant to give his team and its followers yet another reason to believe next year will be the year ... the year they make the playoffs, but not the year they win the Stanley Cup.
Oh well ...
