@DGB:
…Burke’s drafting record isn’t really relevant, since Fletcher has traded away all our picks..
True, provided you assume that assets like Kaberle, Toskala and Antropov are all going to finish up the season here in T.O. I always kind of assumed that at least some of these names (and I’m really hoping NOT Kaberle) get converted into draft picks at the deadline. Because these trades are more likely to involve playoff teams, they’re not likely to be lottery-region picks. These could be tough selections, especially since this year’s draft class is not thought to be especially deep (at least as compared to last year’s). All the more reason to have someone around who knows the talent pool intimately, when it comes time to pick.

I will confess to succumbing to that temptation by times, but I’m not a professional writer.

Gare Joyce’s book (Future Greats..) was an amazing read and it’s such a shame there isn’t more of that insight out there.

If the Hockey News is ever going to be relevant again, this is a vein that they should be mining.

I know your post wasn’t intended to include an analysis of the other candidates’ names, and I 100% agree with your assessment of Regier’s draft/development record. Outstanding.

As for Burkie’s record in the draft, I agree this is a major area of concern. One possibility that occurred to me this morning is hiring dudes from Hockey Canada; Burke and the Leafs should actively recruit some of the folk whose job it has been to scout the juniors and fill out our World Juniors and Under-18 squads. That’s exactly the talent we need to assess, and right now. There’s a guy named Al Murray (ex-Kings scout) who signed a two-year deal with them in August ’07 to become Hockey Canada’s Head Amateur Scout. We need to either sign that guy up or get a burlap bag of oh, say “man” size and work up our appetites for mischief…

I should clarify that I only included the other GM names in my posts and not a more thorough analysis as I knew if I didn’t name names I would get 16 comments saying nothing more than: “who would you hire, then?”

As for your write-ups, Regier deserves far more credit for his drafting and development record:(Vanek, Pommenville, Afinogenov, Campbell, Tallinder, Paetsch, Stafford, Roy, Gaustad, Miller, Kotalik, Peters, Kalinin – compared to Burke and JFJ it’s freakin’ sparkling).

It should also be acknowledged that if weren’t for horrific injuries on the back end the Sabres likely would have been in the Cup finals against Edmonton. (They were so banged up, I think Jim Schonfield was their 7th defenceman in the final game of the series against the Canes). That would be two cup finals in 10 years for Mr. Regier. Not bad for a team that went bankrupt, had its owner indicted and has had to deal with some pretty heavy budget restraints.

In the end, I agree with DGB – a 100% shot at Burke is better than a 50% shot at another GM; however, it must be noted that Burke has had one, maybe two good drafts in over a decade and, to me, that’s a very troubling very disturbing trend, especially as the Leafs try to re-tool into a serious contender.

Agreed. To forego Burkie now, you have to believe that the other candidate is demonstrably better and likely available. It’s kind of like the decision process my family went through when we first bought a home computer; true, the Commodore 64 wasn’t likely to be the be-all and end-all of personal computing technology, but waiting for the “best” machine to appear wasn’t an option – we’d still be waiting to this day. So there you have it Brian Burke = Commodore 64, adjusted for awesomeness inflation to 1983 levels.

I’m just trying to set the rules for evaluation of this decision now, to make it tougher for the revisionists to carp and moan later if, Wendel forbid, the Cup doesn’t come home on BB’s watch.

I think it comes down to this: even if you think there are better candidates than Burke, a 100% chance of landing Brian Burke right now beats out a 50/50 (or whatever else) chance at Poile or McPhee in six months.

Take a look at the Sabres’ roster, in particular – the number of homegrown players there is phenomenal; the Sharks too. Detroit gets a mention because they manage to find guys like Zetterberg WAY down deep in the draft.