Jimmy Firecracker
They Fired Sheldon!
Gotta love McGuire yelling "let the rebuild begin!!!!". LOL!!
Then it promptly ended a year and 3 months later.
Gotta love McGuire yelling "let the rebuild begin!!!!". LOL!!
During the days with JFJ, Peddie and OTPP that looks to have been the case.
However, With Burke and Nonis - The issue they had is with the lure of having a good team in Toronto right away and not accessing what they had properly.
Because lately - Quinn, Ferguson, Fletcher, Burke - they all seem to think they can fix things by making trades or signing the right UFA's.
To me the question is do the Leafs keep hiring GM's who don't believe in rebuilding through the draft OR does/has ownership refused to allow GM's to build through the draft?
Because lately - Quinn, Ferguson, Fletcher, Burke - they all seem to think they can fix things by making trades or signing the right UFA's.
To me the question is do the Leafs keep hiring GM's who don't believe in rebuilding through the draft OR does/has ownership refused to allow GM's to build through the draft?
Burke was smarter and could fast track with free wallets.
That's 1 of 2 popular theories around Jeff Finger. The other one is that Fletcher confused Jeff Finger for teammate Kurt Sauer (who was not worth that either and signed for half of what Finger got in Arizona). The only time I've seen a mistake that blatantly dumb was the Ryan O'Reilly offer sheet, where the Flames offer sheeted O'Reilly, who would've had to go through waivers because he played in Europe, and so if the Avs didn't match, the Flames would've basically given a 1st and 3rd to Colorado for literally nothing. Only difference is, that crisis was averted by the Avs matching, the Leafs signing Finger actually happened. Either way, the Jeff Finger mixup and ROR offer sheet have to be the two dumbest **** ups I've ever seen in the NHL management wise.
He thought that signing Christian Hanson ad Tyler Bozak were like getting free 1st round picks and made the picks for the Kessel trade expendable
Except the pick was Tyler Seguin and not Taylor Hall so if the leafs draft Seguin and Hamilton instead of acquiring Kessel , its a clear win for the leafs. Not only that but the leafs could have potentially drafted higher the year Hamilton was taken so they could be even farther ahead now.
- If he doesn't sign Clarkson people will complain about him not trying to improve the team and if Clarkson does well then thats even worse. Bolland played great when he played but he asked for too much money.Nonis wanted to sign him or else he wouldn't have traded for him. Again with Phaneuf? Phaneuf has shown he's significantly underrated by Leafs fans. Also, why wouldn't he sign Phaneuf? You thought he was going to take a pay cut? Teams aren't going to give up significant value for Phaneuf if he was expiringNonis: Clarkson signing, Bolland trade, Phaneuf signing, etc.
Burke: Kessel trade, Komisarek signing, etc.
Fletcher: Steen trade, Finger signing, etc.
JFJ: Rask trade, failure to prepare for the new NHL, etc.
These guys wrecked the team before getting their feet wet and spent the rest of their time cleaning up their own messes.
Actually, he did not inherit a last place team. He inherited a bubble team which is why he felt comfortable trading two mid first rounders. I'm not saying it was the right decision, or that he didn't horribly misjudge his team. But I understand his thought process and why he did what he did.
To be fair, that's kinda underselling the leading scorer in the NHL right now.Seguin isn't even on the Bruins anymore because he was disruptive
I don't think its an issue of ownership not allowing a build through the draft rather ownership hiring a guy and giving him full reign to do what he wants. We're not hockey guys so we'll hire a hockey guy and let him do what he needs to instead of giving them a clear mandate, like say we want a complete overhaul from the ground up and we're willing to be patient as long as we see some tangible improvement that eventually results in playoff appearances.
If Rask stays a Leaf it changes the entire future of the organization. A stabalizing force in net can do alot for a team (see, Habs).
- If he doesn't sign Clarkson people will complain about him not trying to improve the team and if Clarkson does well then thats even worse. Bolland played great when he played but he asked for too much money.Nonis wanted to sign him or else he wouldn't have traded for him. Again with Phaneuf? Phaneuf has shown he's significantly underrated by Leafs fans. Also, why wouldn't he sign Phaneuf? You thought he was going to take a pay cut? Teams aren't going to give up significant value for Phaneuf if he was expiring
- Kessel is an elite goal scoring winger , Seguin isn't even on the Bruins anymore because he was disruptive, Hamilton wont replace Chara by any means and has Jared Knight even played a game? Komisarek was a good signing but he didn't turn out that well in Toronto. Hindsight is always 50-50, he turns out good no one complains right? Easy to judge after the fact
-Steen stagnated by the time he was traded, people need to understand this and it shows how many people were even fans at that time. Steen had 4! points in 20 games by the time he was traded . Finger? Well overpaid but again, hindsight
-See, more hindsight . Rask at the time of being traded was being traded for Raycroft who was a season removed from winning the Calder and he's in good company too for that in goalies like Belfour,Brodeur and Nabokov as the last goalies to win it. The Leafs had Justin Pogge in the system who won gold at world juniors. Yah, its a ****** trade now but what if Raycroft or Pogge panned out like they thought they were? JFJ also wanted a full rebuild but wasn't allowed to by the upper management so its not like he can be blamed for his moves 100%
How? You're forgetting that in the universe where the Leafs have Seguin and Hamilton they don't have Kessel.
You honestly think Seguin would be doing what he's doing in DAL here in Toronto if there's no Jamie Benn or Jason Spezza or Nichuskin floating around him?
He's good, but he's not light-years ahead of Kessel.
Hamilton is in a similar situation, he's only just now breaking out, and it's mostly in an environment surrounded by solid leadership and grizzled, cup-winning veterans.
Which is something the Leafs clearly don't have. Thrusting Seguin and Hamilton into the burning spotlight in Toronto and asking them to be lynchpins in the teams' offense would not be positive results.
Certainly not in the area of 10 years further ahead compared to having Kessel.
Rask for Raycroft is one of the worst trades in the last decade.
- If he doesn't sign Clarkson people will complain about him not trying to improve the team and if Clarkson does well then thats even worse. Bolland played great when he played but he asked for too much money.Nonis wanted to sign him or else he wouldn't have traded for him. Again with Phaneuf? Phaneuf has shown he's significantly underrated by Leafs fans. Also, why wouldn't he sign Phaneuf? You thought he was going to take a pay cut? Teams aren't going to give up significant value for Phaneuf if he was expiring
- Kessel is an elite goal scoring winger , Seguin isn't even on the Bruins anymore because he was disruptive, Hamilton wont replace Chara by any means and has Jared Knight even played a game? Komisarek was a good signing but he didn't turn out that well in Toronto. Hindsight is always 50-50, he turns out good no one complains right? Easy to judge after the fact
-Steen stagnated by the time he was traded, people need to understand this and it shows how many people were even fans at that time. Steen had 4! points in 20 games by the time he was traded . Finger? Well overpaid but again, hindsight
-See, more hindsight . Rask at the time of being traded was being traded for Raycroft who was a season removed from winning the Calder and he's in good company too for that in goalies like Belfour,Brodeur and Nabokov as the last goalies to win it. The Leafs had Justin Pogge in the system who won gold at world juniors. Yah, its a ****** trade now but what if Raycroft or Pogge panned out like they thought they were? JFJ also wanted a full rebuild but wasn't allowed to by the upper management so its not like he can be blamed for his moves 100%
Because lately - Quinn, Ferguson, Fletcher, Burke - they all seem to think they can fix things by making trades or signing the right UFA's.
To me the question is do the Leafs keep hiring GM's who don't believe in rebuilding through the draft OR does/has ownership refused to allow GM's to build through the draft?
Burke was smarter and could fast track with free wallets.
Nonis: Clarkson signing, Bolland trade, Phaneuf signing, etc.
Burke: Kessel trade, Komisarek signing, etc.
Fletcher: Steen trade, Finger signing, etc.
JFJ: Rask trade, failure to prepare for the new NHL, etc.
These guys wrecked the team before getting their feet wet and spent the rest of their time cleaning up their own messes.
Because lately - Quinn, Ferguson, Fletcher, Burke - they all seem to think they can fix things by making trades or signing the right UFA's.
To me the question is do the Leafs keep hiring GM's who don't believe in rebuilding through the draft OR does/has ownership refused to allow GM's to build through the draft?
Because lately - Quinn, Ferguson, Fletcher, Burke - they all seem to think they can fix things by making trades or signing the right UFA's.
To me the question is do the Leafs keep hiring GM's who don't believe in rebuilding through the draft OR does/has ownership refused to allow GM's to build through the draft?
Is there still supporters?!? LOL. Funny stuff.I don't know who was more delusional, Burke or the followers who believed in him.