Standing Pat?

It won't be easy for Brian Burke to sell a show about nothing.

Or at least a trade deadline about nothing.

Certainly, Burke and his front office colleagues with the Leafs are trying to make something happen, from Rick Nash to a goalie to any number of things.

But the kind of trades Burke wants to make - players for players, not just taking futures for players - may just not fit the kind of moves that will occur today.

There's also logic behind doing nothing if you're Burke.

Look, there's always the theory that you're never as good as you seem to be when all is rolling along, and not as bad as you seem when the losses are piling up. Applied to the Leafs, they weren't the best team in the NHL when they sat first overall last autumn, and Burke now believes the team is better than it has shown over the last miserable three weeks.

Starting Tuesday night against Florida, the Leafs can hope the team will start getting back to where it was last month.

Meanwhile, around the league not a great deal is happening, with Andrei Kostitsyn to Nashville the only deal of the day. Montreal received a second rounder and a conditional pick for Kostitsyn, who will be reunited with brother Sergei in Tennessee. The deal brings to an end one of the most disappointing runs for a talented player with the Habs. The Habs kept hoping Kostitsyn would turn into a big-time, consistent points producer, and he never did.

Outside of that deal, deathly quiet is how some have described it so far.

If there's nothing to make happen, there may be no sense in trying to force it.

Not that this is the message Leaf Nation wants to hear. . . 

 

Comments

[Chris]

I agree with you. The leafs aren't going to win the cup this year, so it doesn't make a whole lot of sense to sell off the future just for the chance to get swept by the Rangers or Bruins in the first round.

Having said that, I think we all know that if the trade deadline comes and goes without them making a meaningful deal, the line of reporters waiting to bash Burke for doing nothing will wrap around the ACC, and chances are, you'll be right at the front.

[Mark]

The real problem is that there is nothing for Burke to do unless he can get a Nash/Getzlaf style miracle.

Dumping Grabo for a pick will have fans up in arms. Renting a middling vet doesn't make sense for such a borderline team.

Even adding a goalie is fraught with peril. The ones available are as likely to hit a cold streak as the leaf youngsters. And if Burke makes such a move, acknowledging he does not believe in Reimer to get it done, it means he HAS to go spend on a goalie this summer, even if the available options aren't enticing.

It may actually be best for the team to play it out and see where they land, and use that to inform their summer decision making.

[Concerned Leafs Fan]

If Ron Wilson is still the head coach at the end of the day, I'm beginning my boycott of the Leafs until he has been removed. I hope others will join me. His treatment of Reimer after Saturday's game was disgusting. How Reimer and Wilson can co-exist on the same team after that is beyond me. As I've said for many months, Wilson is the problem and needs to go. He's lost the dressing room completely and clearly has no ability whatsoever to motivate this team in the slightest. Having one of the worst PK and PP in the NHL for 3 seasons now, not making the playoffs, throwing players under the bus; all reasons to remove him. Sadly it looks like Burke is incapable of making a business decision that is in the best interests of the organization by firing his long time friend.

Let the boycott of the Leafs begin!

[Fedele]

I really believe that Brian Burke and company need to give their heads a shake. Back in the early part of the season when Anaheim announced that everyone on the team was trade able except for Koivu and Salane, where was the offer for Getzlaf? NOTHING was done!? The Leafs desperately need help up front... Kessel has a couple of more years on his contract and Lupul is having an excellent season, but likely won't be repeated and what happens then?
I Like Gardiner just like everyone else but at this point, you need to do what it takes to make this team better now and for the foreseeable future. Gardiner may or may not become a great defenseman. What if this is his plateau, and looking back they may have been able to get Nash? I mean DO THE DEAL! Bring what you need to Toronto. Everyone knows what Nash is about. Everyone is aware of his skill set. Nash is you number one Line Forward type player ... He is a franchise player. Someone the Leafs DO NOT HAVE. I mean, I look at some of the signings that Burke has done and I wonder why there was no hesitation on some of them. Liles gets a contract extension while he is out with a concussion and without even playing a full season in Toronto ? !?!
Grabovski, arguably your best forward is likely going to be let go?!?!?
C'mon. This is a team that has not made the playoffs in 8 years. This is supposed to be the cornerstone franchise in the NHL and the most frustrating aspect of where they are today is that they are no better off than they were before Burke got here.
Sure they may have younger prospects than they did then, but the bottom line is the bottom line. Have they made the playoffs yet ?!?!?!? NO.
And My final point … Get rid of Wilson !!!!!!
Don’t tell me for a nano second that coaching changes don’t work. Look at St. Louis with
Hitchcok and what about New Jersey and what they have managed to do when they changed their coach with respect to Kovolchuk.
Ron Wilson in his time here, has failed to capture the attention and inspire his younger players to play well. The testament to that remains their record when playing clutch games where they needed to win. AND THEY HAVEN’T. In fact, they didn’t even compete !!! Oh, and then Ron Wilson throws his goalies under the preverbal Bus on Saturday night !!?
What good coach does that?!
And … by the way … Why on Earth would Wilson be given an extension in the middle of a season after having missed the playoffs for three prior years !!!!!!!!

[Moe Green]

Ron Wilson is the main deadline move that Burke should have made. I really believe it's still not too late. Friends or not, it would be the prudent choice to see what he has with this team under a new, more defensively minded bench boss. Ron Wilson during his tenure here has been the poster boy for getting the least possible from the talent he's been given. How many coaches would love to have two top ten scorers in their lineup?

[John]

Good for Burkie! With the young talent the leasfs now have... This is not the time to sell the farm. Getting to the 1st round just to get swept by Boston is not a smart management move. I know Toronto does not want to hear it BUT next year IS the year to make meaningful moves. The starting pieces are here now.... A little more patience and Burke WILL build a contending Team..... This summer may be a good time to look at a Coaching change though!

[Ralph Smith]

WOW. Leaf fans are a real work, you complain more than my girlfriend. Burke hasn't had the opportunity other NHL teams have had by finishing dead last for 3 or 4 years like Edmonton and getting a first pick every year. We're only at the 3 year point and the improvement in our players including the minors has improved greatly. A majority of them by amazing trades that robbed the other GM's, probably why he couldn't make a deal. Both of our goalies are either obtained through the draft or free agent signings with out giving anyone up. Most people posting here want us to get into the playoffs right now and get cut off at the knees in the first round. A couple of more years when our developing players in the minors maybe ready to play in the NHL and our current 2 top lines and defense will be in more of a position of doing something to make us proud. We still have some pieces that need replacing but so far so good.