Bryan Burke: 'I would not draft Kessel first overall'

[Le Golie]

And yes, I have seen a lot more of Toews than this tournament. I'm from the same city as him, he's been well known around here for some time now.

 

[Hockeycanada*]

I think people understand that. I just feel a player of Kessel's talent offers more potential "uniqueness" than Toews. I feel it's rarer to find a player of Kessel's pure skill level than a player like Toews.

I am in no way slandering Toews. He'd be on my team in a minute. But I just wouldn't pick him first.

That's a good point.

 

[Hunter Gathers]

And here is what you don't understand. It isn't Toews role to score goals. His job is to create chances, play a good 2 way game, forecheck, cycle the puck, etc, while Kessel's job is to score goals. These two players are completely different. Toews is doing a great job filling his role, both Bob and Brian Burke and the scouts have alluded to this. On the other hand, in the past few games Kessel is not doing his job. He was completely shut down against Canada. It will be very interesting to see how he plays tonight.

What in the world don't I understand? I have seen Toews play a lot and its pretty clear what his objective and goal is for each game. I'm not arguing that it isn't his job to do all those things. But it's just Kessel's job as much as anyone to create chances, cycle, and forecheck. Kessel doesn't shy away from contact at all. He scores tons of goals from in low and in traffic. If you have seen ANY college games at all, you'd see that that is his game and how he goes about it.

It's nice that you have some words from a few hockey guys about a player, but until you see them play yourself you really can't form that good of an opinion on them. Basically you are blindly taking the words of some analysts at this point.

 

[Hunter Gathers]

And yes, I have seen a lot more of Toews than this tournament. I'm from the same city as him, he's been well known around here for some time now.

That's definately a good thing then. It's exciting to have a player of his caliber choose the NCAA route over the Canadian juniors route.

 

[Old Hickory]

If you want to see how good Brian Burke really is take a look at the Vancouver Canucks. That's a team he helped build. With the Ducks, he's been on the job how long? 6-7 months?

He didn't build the Canucks. Mike Keenan built that team. Burke came in as they were starting to gel. Burke traded Mogilny for Morrison and that's about it.

Why don't you tell me what a good job Burke did in Hartford? And if he was such a good GM, why he still isn't in Vancouver?

 

[Randall Graves*]

You have to remember this is the guy that picked Bobby Ryan 2nd.

Yeah he's already a bust

Kessell is a puck hog, I like Johnson more than him.

 

[Hunter Gathers]

That's a good point.

I agree as well. I see Kessel as a much more explosive player than Toews is. That's definately not a knock on Toews. I mean, how much can you really knock on a guy who's going to go #2 or 3 or anywhere in the top 5? It's just all nitpicking at this point with each of these guys.

 

[Sammy*]

Tell me how he made Vancouver a better team?

Be sure to tell me how he solved their goaltending woes and built their farm system.

Be sure to list his stellar drafting record in Vancouver and also list how he took Hartford over the top.

He did none of these. His pattern of failure is there.

Again buddy, you cited Anaheims record this year.
Get a clue. Your'e embarassing yourself.

 

[Transported Upstater]

That's definately a good thing then. It's exciting to have a player of his caliber choose the NCAA route over the Canadian juniors route.

On that note, does anyone know the reasons Toews picked NCAA? I never believed for a minute that Kessel was going to play one shift for Saginaw, but Toews was the #1 pick in his bantam draft.

Can anyone shed some light?

 

[Old Hickory]

Again buddy, you cited Anaheims record this year.
Get a clue. Your'e embarassing yourself.

You didn't answer my questions...here they are again

Tell me how he made Vancouver a better team?

Be sure to tell me how he solved their goaltending woes and built their farm system.

Be sure to list his stellar drafting record in Vancouver and also list how he took Hartford over the top.

He did none of these. His pattern of failure is there.

 

[Randall Graves*]

Brian Burke: Drafted Bobby Ryan ahead of Jack Johnson, Gilbert Brule and other far superior prospects.

What other 'far superior' prospects?

Brian Burke: Traded Sergei Federov for Tyler Wright and Francis Beauchemin

Beauchemin has more points than Fedorov

Does anybody else see a pattern here? Right, and Mike Milbury's the stupid one

 

[Misos Milakos*]

"How many forwards are as complete as Toews in this years draft? None."

WOW. That's an arguable statement if there ever was one. Frolik is definately as complete a player and Mueller is just a tiny step below Toews in that aspect.

No one is arguing that Kessel is a defensive stalwart or that his defense is as good as Toews is. Pretty much everyone acknowledges that Toews is the more complete player of the two. Where I see the error is that people are really thinking that Toews is this complete two way player who will dominate on both ends of the ice. I don't see him putting up nearly the amount of points that Kessel will at the professional level, but he will play at both ends of the rink fairly solidly. I mean, if you get a chance to watch either of them at the college level it is pretty easy to see who really has the offensive instincts between the two of them.

At this stage in their careers, Kessel simply owns Toews on the offensive side of the puck. I don't see at all how this little defensive upgrade on Kessel that Toews has can make up for that HUGE difference in the offensive zone that is pretty clear. As I said, Toews is a great prospect and will make the team who drafts him very happy, but he just isn't that dynamic, game breaker that Kessel is. It just isn't Toews game.

If Frolik and Mueller were as complete as Toews at this point in time, they to would be making a greater run at overtaking Kessel. Maybe they should be.

Kessel is dangerous with time and space, and hopefully he develops some more moves for his sake because as great a talent as he is, the better the defence he faces with what he has shown with his limited bag of tricks, the more difficult time he will have doing what he does best, which is scoring, and if he's not scoring, lets face it, he's not doing much. Think what you will, Toews will be the player who does it all.

 

[Sammy*]

Burke's past results speak otherwise. And considering's Anaheim's position in the standings and the cap hell he created, he is helping me make my point.

I believe he got rid of Feddy.
How did he create "cap hell".
And btw, I guess in your world there must be like what, 4 good GM's?
Keep em comin. Its gettin reaaaaaal gooood.

 

[Brad*]

I suggest all of you stop slinging dirt at each other and keep it on topic. If I see the word "troll" one more time, or any variant of it, you're getting slapped with 7 points.

Small ugly creature...who...lives...under...a...bridge?

Anyway, I thought kingsjohn had a point. Burke's track record as a GM is marked with some very questionable decisions, all the while walking, talking soundbite. I think the point is that perhaps you should take what he's saying with a grain of salt.

 

[Daily Special]

Except that it's not at all about who's better now. It's about who will be better in 5 years. With Toews having the edge in size and down the line strength, he may be the beter NHLer. NCAA defensemen aren't the same as NHL defensemen and size and strength play a huge role.

It's not about who's better now, it's about who will be the better NHLer when all is said and done.

Based on limited viewing, I'd take E. Johnson 1st. #1 defensemen are a very rare commodity.

Because Toews is 2 inches taller that will make him the better NHLer? Because Kessel is better than Toews now, Toews will be be the better NHler?

With this reasoning, you would make a dandy scout.

 

[Sammy*]

You didn't answer my questions...here they are again

Tell me how he made Vancouver a better team?

Be sure to tell me how he solved their goaltending woes and built their farm system.

Be sure to list his stellar drafting record in Vancouver and also list how he took Hartford over the top.

He did none of these. His pattern of failure is there.

Listen sonny, try reading. You cited Anaheims record this year as evidence hes a poor GM. You got called on it. You havnt yet responded in an intelligent way to that retort to your idiotic post.
Now put your tail between your legs & man up.

 

[Old Hickory]

I believe he got rid of Feddy.
How did he create "cap hell".
And btw, I guess in your world there must be like what, 4 good GM's?
Keep em comin. Its gettin reaaaaaal gooood.

You still haven't answered my questions,


Tell me how he made Vancouver a better team.

Be sure to tell me how he solved their goaltending woes and built their farm system.

Be sure to list his stellar drafting record in Vancouver and also list how he took Hartford over the top.

He did none of these. His pattern of failure is there.

 

[Transported Upstater]

If Frolik and Mueller were as complete as Toews at this point in time, they to would be making a greater run at overtaking Kessel. Maybe they should be.

Kessel is dangerous with time and space, and hopefully he develops some more moves for his sake because as great a talent as he is, the better the defence he faces with what he has shown with his limited bag of tricks, the more difficult time he will have doing what he does best, which is scoring, and if he's not scoring, lets face it, he's not doing much. Think what you will, Toews will be the player who does it all.

I don't think anyone is disputing that Toews is more well-rounded than Kessel.

 

[Le Golie]

On that note, does anyone know the reasons Toews picked NCAA? I never believed for a minute that Kessel was going to play one shift for Saginaw, but Toews was the #1 pick in his bantam draft.

Can anyone shed some light?

It was a family decision. Most likely based on the fact that he was drafted by Tri-Cities, and geographically that is pretty much half a continent away from his home town, Winnipeg. UND is exactly a two-hour drive from Winnipeg. Throw in the fact that he gets an education and after a lot of debating the Toews' chose the NCAA. I have heard his mother really encouraged him to go that route.

It will be really interesting to see where his little brother goes. David Toews would have been a first round pick but because of Jonathan's NCAA choice, teams avoided him until the Brandon Wheat Kings gambled in the sixth round. Brandon is the same distance from Winnipeg as Grand Forks, so we'll see what happens down the road.

 

[Hunter Gathers]

If Frolik and Mueller were as complete as Toews at this point in time, they to would be making a greater run at overtaking Kessel. Maybe they should be.

Kessel is dangerous with time and space, and hopefully he develops some more moves for his sake because as great a talent as he is, the better the defence he faces with what he has shown with his limited bag of tricks, the more difficult time he will have doing what he does best, which is scoring, and if he's not scoring, lets face it, he's not doing much. Think what you will, Toews will be the player who does it all.

You're not giving Kessel enough credit if you think he's just dangerous with space. He scores a ton of garbage goals from going in front of the net.

 

[Sammy*]

You still haven't answered my questions,


Tell me how he made Vancouver a better team.

Be sure to tell me how he solved their goaltending woes and built their farm system.

Be sure to list his stellar drafting record in Vancouver and also list how he took Hartford over the top.

He did none of these. His pattern of failure is there.

Yawn.
You cited Burkes record THIS YEAR.
What dont you understand.
And again, how did he create cap hell?

 

[Transported Upstater]

It was a family decision. Most likely based on the fact that he was drafted by Tri-Cities, and geographically that is pretty much half a continent away from his home town, Winnipeg. UND is exactly a two-hour drive from Winnipeg. Throw in the fact that he gets an education and after a lot of debating the Toews' chose the NCAA. I have heard his mother really encouraged him to go that route.

It will be really interesting to see where his little brother goes. David Toews would have been a first round pick but because of Jonathan's NCAA choice, teams avoided him until the Brandon Wheat Kings gambled in the sixth round. Brandon is the same distance from Winnipeg as Grand Forks, so we'll see what happens down the road.

Thanks, much appreciated.

Do you think if Brandon made that pick, that Toews would have joined the CHL?

 

[Old Hickory]

Yawn.
You cited Burkes record THIS YEAR.
What dont you understand.
And again, how did he create cap hell?

Isn't his record this year an indication of his ability? I'd say so.
He overpaid both Neidermayers and spent too much on 2 players and his team is paying the price.

What don't you understand about answering my questions?

 

[Randall Graves*]

Ok, so first you attack my objectivity, now you actually want to address the post? Why couldn't you do this the first time?

They are a crappy team, Burke in his arrogance traded all their scoring away for enforcers and now they are paying the price.

Burke has never been a good GM and he never will be. He is a media darling and nothing but that. Why trust the opinion of a less than successful GM?

All the scoring? what did Burke trade away again? Steve Rucchin and Mike Leclerc!

and since when are you "crappy" when you are one point out of a playoff slot?

I guess that would have made the kings crappy for about the last 10 years.

 

[HSHS]

again Burke was hired right before the draft, he did not pick Ryan, his scouts picked Ryan, Burke simply walked up on stage and called the name.

That statement is in contradiction to the ESPN The Mag article about Ryan from Dec 19. Of course it is ESPN...


Edit: After reading a little further I realized you clarified your statement... which is more correct.