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Tearing Down and Building Up the Toronto Maple Leafs: Part I

For better or for worse, these are now Brian Burke's Toronto Maple Leafs.

Well, to be fair and a bit more accurate, perhaps it should be said that these are Brian Burke's transitional Toronto Maple Leafs. After shipping out six players in the Phaneuf andGiguere trades, Burke is responsible for acquiring over 60% of the current Leafs roster.

After the jump, 1980s style WYSIWYG graphics, some poor-man analysis and a bunch of the usual caveats...

Star-divide

As the Leafs are playing Martin Brodeur and the New Jersey Devils tonight, I thought it was only fitting that we start with pie, well pie charts.

Here's a look at the composition of the current Leaf line-up identifying the GM responsible for acquiring the player.

Burke_s_leafs_medium

A few notes: the totals include Mike Komisarek but not Mike Van Ryn - only because I crunched all these numbers prior to Komisarek shutting it down for the season. The GM designation is  based on who drafted, traded, claimed off waivers or signed (RFA/UFA/PTO) the player to the Leafs. For example, Tomas Kaberle first made the club under Pat Quinn but was actually drafted all the way back in 1996 under Cliff Fletcher's first go 'round with the club. Because of this, Kaberle goes into the chart as a Cliff Fletcher I acquisition.

Looking Back at How The Leafs Teams Evolved

In just under 15 months, Burke is responsible for acquiring over 60% of his roster. To put that in context, JFJ didn't hit 60% until the fourth year of his tenure as GM.

Amazingly, of that 60% high water mark JFJ hit just two seasons ago, only two of his players, Nikolai Kulemin and Carl Gunnarsson, remain on the current roster.

I think the difference in timing for these two GMs can be partially explained by the state of the teams they took over.

JFJ picked up a 100+ point, veteran ladened squad that appeared to only needed minor tinkering. Burke took over a team that had missed the post-season for three straight seasons and clearly needed a major gutting.

Here's how the Leaf roster has evolved under each GM:

Leafs_evolution_medium

In looking at the chart above, it's interesting to see Quinn's share of the player's shrink (the bright blue bars on top) as JFJ's acquisitions grow and peak in 2007-08 (grey bars at bottom).

There is a huge spike with the arrival of Cliff Fletcher and his clean-the-house mandate in 2008-09. It's also interesting (troubling?) that Fletcher acquired 13 players for the Leafs and of those 13 only four remain.

In sharing this data with PPP, he asked that I go through and have a look at how these teams were built - what per centage were UFAs, RFAs, draft picks, PTOs, and trades. I'll be putting up a part II shortly to look at this in greater detail. 

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Comments

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not something you would normally think about. but looking back, it’s easy to spot how vastly different GMs are in their player preference.

by birky on Feb 5, 2010 12:18 PM EST reply actions  

You might say JFJ had shitty taste in players and Burke’s taste is immaculate?

by CanadianMaple09 on Feb 5, 2010 12:31 PM EST up reply actions  

The incredible thing is looking at how many of JFJ’s players are either retired, out of the NHL, or just terrible.

Pension Plan Puppets: A Toronto Maple Leafs blog and a group therapy session.

by PPP on Feb 5, 2010 12:37 PM EST up reply actions  

Clearly what JFJ is good at is amateur scouting and drafting, and that’s all he should be doing. Keep him away from any other part of a team’s hockey and player development operations, and you can get away with having him on your hockey staff payroll.

leaf fan stuck in ottawa, a localized black hole that will suck everything in that area to oblivion.

by stucky on Feb 5, 2010 12:45 PM EST up reply actions  

I don’t know if you were being ironic… but JFJ is currently the head pro scouting in SJ. I have no idea what they were smoking, because JFJ was garbage at pro scouting.

by unavoidable on Feb 5, 2010 1:58 PM EST up reply actions  

Interesting

It seems he and his staff at the time did an OK job of finding good players with later draft picks (i.e. Kulemin, Gunnarsson, Stalberg) so that’s why I said that amateur scouting seems to be his only strength as a hockey man.

To have him as head of pro scouting… yeah that’s a head-scratcher.

leaf fan stuck in ottawa, a localized black hole that will suck everything in that area to oblivion.

by stucky on Feb 5, 2010 2:01 PM EST up reply actions  

JFJ was decent finding plugs that could play a role in TO. He was terrible at contracts and asset management.

Pension Plan Puppets: A Toronto Maple Leafs blog and a group therapy session.

by PPP on Feb 5, 2010 2:06 PM EST up reply actions  

Exactly, I’m sure that if he was the Thrashers GM right now, they would be anouncing the signing of Kovalchuk for a billion-kajillion dollars, spread over 22 and 1/2 years.

Phaneuf Phever, an upgrade in skill and alliteration!

by Shield on Feb 5, 2010 5:06 PM EST up reply actions  

Who is the Mike Smith/Ken Dryden acquisition? Ponikarovsky?

by Jo4nny on Feb 5, 2010 12:54 PM EST reply actions  

I think he was drafted by Smith. Who’s Quinns?

Brain: The irony of it all, Pinky. Years of trying to take over the world, and all I had to do was say "truculence".
Follow me I'm Boring!

by blindfolded tank driver on Feb 5, 2010 12:58 PM EST up reply actions  

Poni was drafted in 98, that puts him in the Dryden era, no?

I have nothing interesting to say.

by blurr1974 on Feb 5, 2010 1:03 PM EST up reply actions  

Smith Dryden were a tandem anyhow. likely Smith told Dryden about Poni and he drafted.

Brain: The irony of it all, Pinky. Years of trying to take over the world, and all I had to do was say "truculence".
Follow me I'm Boring!

by blindfolded tank driver on Feb 5, 2010 1:14 PM EST up reply actions  

duh

it says Mike Smith, but for some reason I was thinking Floyd…my bad

I have nothing interesting to say.

by blurr1974 on Feb 5, 2010 1:17 PM EST up reply actions  

Yikes, imagine if we still had a Floyd Smith player!

Brain: The irony of it all, Pinky. Years of trying to take over the world, and all I had to do was say "truculence".
Follow me I'm Boring!

by blindfolded tank driver on Feb 5, 2010 1:19 PM EST up reply actions  

What the other GMs brought to the table

Fletcher I: Kaberle
Smith/Dryden: Poni
Quinn: Mitchell
Fletcher II: Jeff Finger, Lee Stempniak, Luke Schenn, Mikhail Grabovski

Bitter Leaf Fan: because sometimes there's no option but to be bitter...

by mf37 on Feb 5, 2010 2:58 PM EST up reply actions  

It makes me sad that Quinn’s legacy is Mitchell.

"The only way out is in a body bag. Go Leafs Go." - Blinky

by Karina on Feb 5, 2010 3:07 PM EST up reply actions  

Yanic Perreault

HE’S BACK – IN POG FORM

by Godd Till on Feb 5, 2010 1:05 PM EST up reply actions   1 recs

that is the best use of that reference, ever

Puns, Innuendo and Bad Spelling, Yes We Got That

by JaredFromLondon on Feb 5, 2010 1:14 PM EST up reply actions  

Mitchell.

Columbus: It's amazing how fast the world can go from bad to total shit storm.
Or the Leafs season: either one works

by Clawson on Feb 5, 2010 1:10 PM EST up reply actions  

Good stuff mf

looking forward to part 2!

I have nothing interesting to say.

by blurr1974 on Feb 5, 2010 1:04 PM EST reply actions  

great stuff mf

will be curious to see how this looks after free agency. could be 70%+ if poni and stemps go.

Yesterday is dead, but not my memory.

by daoust on Feb 5, 2010 1:15 PM EST reply actions  

I can see keeping Poni around

I don’t see it happening, but he is a solid player, but there is no way Stempniak is around next year unless he takes a very team friendly deal.

by njd.aitken on Feb 5, 2010 1:27 PM EST up reply actions  

i think stemp has a better chance of sticking around than poni does, im pretty sure burke and wilson want to get rid of any links to previous regimes

There is no "I" in team, but there is an "M" and an "E"

by Matt_Roberts on Feb 5, 2010 1:30 PM EST up reply actions  

stemp will probably be able to be signed for under 2, poni will fetch north of 3.5 on the market

Puns, Innuendo and Bad Spelling, Yes We Got That

by JaredFromLondon on Feb 5, 2010 1:32 PM EST up reply actions  

i agree

There is no "I" in team, but there is an "M" and an "E"

by Matt_Roberts on Feb 5, 2010 3:41 PM EST up reply actions  

“Where the hell is Bryan Murray with my coffee!”

hahah, that made me laugh. Its ok Brian Murray would probably put to much “slthhhugar” in it anyways.

There is no "I" in team, but there is an "M" and an "E"

by Matt_Roberts on Feb 5, 2010 1:16 PM EST reply actions  

Burke: “What are all these globs floating in my coffee?”
Murray: "I’m shooo shorry, that happened when I shaid “shugar”. I couldn’t help it."

by CanadianMaple09 on Feb 5, 2010 2:12 PM EST up reply actions  

The coffee thing is funny… but in general I disapprove of the lisp jokes. You know who else had a lisp?

KEITH HERNANDEZ

Being a fan is as wonderful as it is irrational. Or vice-versa.

by Kenjamin on Feb 5, 2010 2:34 PM EST up reply actions  

I have no idea who Keith Hernandez is…

by CanadianMaple09 on Feb 6, 2010 6:03 PM EST up reply actions  

You do realize “My Art Portfolio” is a link in my signature to my art portfolio, and not my username, right?

by CanadianMaple09 on Feb 6, 2010 6:03 PM EST up reply actions  

Now he does :)

Pension Plan Puppets: A Toronto Maple Leafs blog and a group therapy session.

by PPP on Feb 7, 2010 3:00 AM EST up reply actions  

Very good post mf

"I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones."

Albert Einstein

by Say *plan the parade one more time*... on Feb 5, 2010 4:04 PM EST reply actions  

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