Goonface2k14
Registered User
Kessel - two first rounders and a second rounder. Don't judge it in hindsight, Burke didn't exactly trade Seguin, he traded the pick that landed Seguin (and Hamilton for that matter). I liked it at the time, he acquired a very young star who already proved himself for two first rounders which might not have been as high had the Leafs done better that year.
JVR - Luke Schenn. Great move, got a potential superstar who was buried on the Flyer depth chart for a young d-man who was coming off of a sub par season. Nice buy low for a guy he sold low as well.
Lupul and Gardiner - Buechemin. This requires no explanation. Absolute steal. I guess considering Beauchemin has been better in Anaheim it's not completely depressing for Ducks fans, but it's still a steal. Gardiner is a beauty, and of course, there's Joffrey freakin Lupul. He has been in an elite class ever since he came back from those horrible injuries.
Kadri - nice draft pick, but certainly took some time to develop into a high scoring centre, and still a WIP when playing without the puck, especially in his own end. Lupul gets a lot of credit for his point production, IMO. Considering the other draft options available after him, the Leafs (Burke) look like they made a good choice.
Phaneuf - Stajan, White, some spare parts. Great move, even if he's considered the most overrated, he still brings more to the table than either Stajan or White.
Franson - Lebda and Slaney (who?). Unbelievable deal. Too bad Lombardi didn't work out, but Franson alone is a steal, and was at the time too. I cringed whenever Komisarek got into the lineup over him.
Bolland - a second rounders and two fourths (thanks for the correction). Much needed leadership and cheaper than Grabo up the middle. Versatile as a defensive shut down guy or a second line scorer when needed.
Bozak - signed out of college. Meh. Nothing special, but not bad for what Burke called an extra draft pick. Can play top line minutes without top line skill. Decent at face offs. Like most Leaf fans, I'd love him more as a 2nd or 3rd liner than a 1st liner.
Clarkson - overpaid in term and amount, but has those "intangibles" you can't find that easily. A gritty guy who can score. Allows you to employ less pure "goon" which take away from all other categories of value like Orr or McClaren.
Raymond - signing (great value at $1M, wow Nonis). Takes over for the loss of Frattin almost seamlessly. What a steal. Again.
Reilly - high draft pick. So far so good, well done BB. Looks like he's an NHLer for good, and will play big minutes. Not bad for a teenager.
Fraser - traded for Dale Mitchell (thanks guys). Amazing find. Exit Komisarek (finally), enter Fraser. Liability out, asset in. Best of both worlds.
Kulemin - draft pick. So tenacious on offence, and can play a very strong defensive game as well. There's a reason he's been with the Leafs for so long.
McClement - signing. Another great example of how the Burke/Nonis camp continues to find diamonds in the rough.
Bernier - Frattin and Scrivens (and a 2nd rounder - thanks). Could be a franchise goalie, time will tell. So far the two number one calibre goalie system looks great. Frattin is replaceable, Bernier isn't.
Reimer - low draft pick from a while back. Proved he is a capable number one for a good team one last season. Continues to play well. No complaints really, all things considered.
Gunnarsson - draft pick (I think). Working out to be a pretty solid shut down defenceman who can log top pairing minutes. Not a superstar, but definitely not a liability like Komisarek or like Schenn was in his second or his final Leaf season.
Ranger - signing (I think). Low risk move, was successful in prior years. Looks to still be adjusting to the pace, and has looked ok the past couple games. He's on the bubble, and that's probably where the team figured he would be at this point.
Orr/McLaren - who cares, replaceable goons. They get the job done, but less pure goons and more goons with skill are the mark of an elite team. I hope we only have to employ one of those two moving forward, and give fourth line minutes to a guy like Broll or Lievo.
I've likely missed some guys, but overall I think I've made the point that BB and Nonis deserve a lot of credit for taking a team, wiping the cupboards bare, and filling them with some very nice pieces. Lots of fantastic trades, finding diamonds in the rough and underused talent. Some decent draft picks, but the higher you go the easier the pick so I can't give them too much credit there. MacArthur was likely the only good free agent signing, but likely because Burke stuck to his guns when signing free agents, and hardly ever broke the bank. Let's see what Clarkson brings when he gets into the lineup. Although he's being paid too much for too long, his unique talent set (gritty with scoring touch) doesn't grow in trees, and is badly needed if you want to go deep into the playoffs. Connolly and Armstrong were failures, and Komisarek was a colossal failure. Tlusty has blossomed in Carolina, but he likely wouldn't have had the same opportunity in Toronto (top line minutes with an elite centre like Staal). Overall, if those are the only failures, I'm not complaining.
Overall, since Cliff "the custodian of the keys" Fletcher handed over the reigns to BB and Nonis, the team went from the cellar to potentially competing with the best in the entire league. Sure it's been a while, but they did it right, didn't take many unnecessary free-agent signing shortcuts during the process. That might've sped things up in the short run, but hindered them over a longer haul. Burke mentioned that there's no point in building a team that simply makes the playoffs and gets ousted in the first round. Looks like he stuck to his word, and Nonis is the grateful recipient of that work.
Still work to do, but all things considered, they're in a good position. They're one of the youngest teams in the entire league. They could be one trade away from being a Cup contender, if they aren't already. They have the surplus of talent to make a deal just like that, so thats not "pie-in-the-sky" type of wishful thinking, either.
I give an A+ to the Burke-Nonis regime, so far. I know not everyone will agree, but I don't know any other GM that could pull off as many great deals as they have.
GLG.
JVR - Luke Schenn. Great move, got a potential superstar who was buried on the Flyer depth chart for a young d-man who was coming off of a sub par season. Nice buy low for a guy he sold low as well.
Lupul and Gardiner - Buechemin. This requires no explanation. Absolute steal. I guess considering Beauchemin has been better in Anaheim it's not completely depressing for Ducks fans, but it's still a steal. Gardiner is a beauty, and of course, there's Joffrey freakin Lupul. He has been in an elite class ever since he came back from those horrible injuries.
Kadri - nice draft pick, but certainly took some time to develop into a high scoring centre, and still a WIP when playing without the puck, especially in his own end. Lupul gets a lot of credit for his point production, IMO. Considering the other draft options available after him, the Leafs (Burke) look like they made a good choice.
Phaneuf - Stajan, White, some spare parts. Great move, even if he's considered the most overrated, he still brings more to the table than either Stajan or White.
Franson - Lebda and Slaney (who?). Unbelievable deal. Too bad Lombardi didn't work out, but Franson alone is a steal, and was at the time too. I cringed whenever Komisarek got into the lineup over him.
Bolland - a second rounders and two fourths (thanks for the correction). Much needed leadership and cheaper than Grabo up the middle. Versatile as a defensive shut down guy or a second line scorer when needed.
Bozak - signed out of college. Meh. Nothing special, but not bad for what Burke called an extra draft pick. Can play top line minutes without top line skill. Decent at face offs. Like most Leaf fans, I'd love him more as a 2nd or 3rd liner than a 1st liner.
Clarkson - overpaid in term and amount, but has those "intangibles" you can't find that easily. A gritty guy who can score. Allows you to employ less pure "goon" which take away from all other categories of value like Orr or McClaren.
Raymond - signing (great value at $1M, wow Nonis). Takes over for the loss of Frattin almost seamlessly. What a steal. Again.
Reilly - high draft pick. So far so good, well done BB. Looks like he's an NHLer for good, and will play big minutes. Not bad for a teenager.
Fraser - traded for Dale Mitchell (thanks guys). Amazing find. Exit Komisarek (finally), enter Fraser. Liability out, asset in. Best of both worlds.
Kulemin - draft pick. So tenacious on offence, and can play a very strong defensive game as well. There's a reason he's been with the Leafs for so long.
McClement - signing. Another great example of how the Burke/Nonis camp continues to find diamonds in the rough.
Bernier - Frattin and Scrivens (and a 2nd rounder - thanks). Could be a franchise goalie, time will tell. So far the two number one calibre goalie system looks great. Frattin is replaceable, Bernier isn't.
Reimer - low draft pick from a while back. Proved he is a capable number one for a good team one last season. Continues to play well. No complaints really, all things considered.
Gunnarsson - draft pick (I think). Working out to be a pretty solid shut down defenceman who can log top pairing minutes. Not a superstar, but definitely not a liability like Komisarek or like Schenn was in his second or his final Leaf season.
Ranger - signing (I think). Low risk move, was successful in prior years. Looks to still be adjusting to the pace, and has looked ok the past couple games. He's on the bubble, and that's probably where the team figured he would be at this point.
Orr/McLaren - who cares, replaceable goons. They get the job done, but less pure goons and more goons with skill are the mark of an elite team. I hope we only have to employ one of those two moving forward, and give fourth line minutes to a guy like Broll or Lievo.
I've likely missed some guys, but overall I think I've made the point that BB and Nonis deserve a lot of credit for taking a team, wiping the cupboards bare, and filling them with some very nice pieces. Lots of fantastic trades, finding diamonds in the rough and underused talent. Some decent draft picks, but the higher you go the easier the pick so I can't give them too much credit there. MacArthur was likely the only good free agent signing, but likely because Burke stuck to his guns when signing free agents, and hardly ever broke the bank. Let's see what Clarkson brings when he gets into the lineup. Although he's being paid too much for too long, his unique talent set (gritty with scoring touch) doesn't grow in trees, and is badly needed if you want to go deep into the playoffs. Connolly and Armstrong were failures, and Komisarek was a colossal failure. Tlusty has blossomed in Carolina, but he likely wouldn't have had the same opportunity in Toronto (top line minutes with an elite centre like Staal). Overall, if those are the only failures, I'm not complaining.
Overall, since Cliff "the custodian of the keys" Fletcher handed over the reigns to BB and Nonis, the team went from the cellar to potentially competing with the best in the entire league. Sure it's been a while, but they did it right, didn't take many unnecessary free-agent signing shortcuts during the process. That might've sped things up in the short run, but hindered them over a longer haul. Burke mentioned that there's no point in building a team that simply makes the playoffs and gets ousted in the first round. Looks like he stuck to his word, and Nonis is the grateful recipient of that work.
Still work to do, but all things considered, they're in a good position. They're one of the youngest teams in the entire league. They could be one trade away from being a Cup contender, if they aren't already. They have the surplus of talent to make a deal just like that, so thats not "pie-in-the-sky" type of wishful thinking, either.
I give an A+ to the Burke-Nonis regime, so far. I know not everyone will agree, but I don't know any other GM that could pull off as many great deals as they have.
GLG.
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