The Toronto-centric, media-spearheaded 'spin' machine to have a shot at Grigorenko at the number 5 slot.*
I reckon Brian Burke wishes to re-'Matt Sundin-ize' the Toronto franchise, ...at the expense of a very possible Montreal 'Béliveau-like' renewal era. He's counting on the Habs neophyte GM's naivety and edginess to wrest the big prize away, and as supplementary benefits go, steamroll the Habs' future with a 'grand-theft' larceny.
You push the classic Russian narrative with the massive help of friendly media (the TSN Maple Leaf cohort in particular) , ...in the realistic expectations that people's prejudices will take over and in due time, hand over...at the number five slot... the generational, the prize Hockey player that is a healthy Michaïl Grigorenko.
We're witnessing completely made-up, make-believe character assassination here, a cynical operation worthy of the worst Hack the murky world of Politics has been capable of successfully bringing to fruition. Brian Burke doesn't believe a word of what's being spewed on Grigorenko. He'll amply prove it when he rides Grigorenko's coattails, and 'laughs' it all off when a Habs' fan suggests in retrospect that the hate fest had been Burke-engineered to steer the Habs' glorious legacy to a richly deserved ...Toranna rest area.