The problem with Burke's rebuild is the NHL landscape has changed with regards to star talent moving either through free agency and or trades in any meaningful quantity.
It wasn't so long ago that in the NHL you would see Teemu Selanne, Brendan Shanahan, Wayne Gretzky, Bill Ranford, Curtis Joseph, Patrick Roy, Chris Pronger all get traded in one single season, or big time franchise centermen like Ron Francis, Pierre Turgeon, Doug Gilmour, Pat Lafontaine, Mark Messier exchanging hands like hockey cards in the schoolyard at recess, but these days teams are just holding onto their stars like dear life, cutting down Burke's ability to change the franchise quickly.