The Brian Burke Saga Part 2: Pros, Cons, and Everything Inbetween

Now that the media's gotten their wish and Brian Burke's spent his first weekend as a member of the Toronto Maple Leafs, the whispers have started as to whether he can be successful with the Leafs or not.

If success is at his fingertips in Toronto or not, well that depends on who you talk to.

Some think that Burke is the exact type of person needed to lead this team, and build a successful franchise in Toronto. Others, like myself, are a little more skeptical

The fact is, that each of his skills and attitudes that he brings to Toronto can go both ways, offering him an advantage over Toronto and the proper experience to deal with the scenario, or they can hold him back and his attitude is a fabrication.

Burke is a Stanley Cup winning General Manager

Pro: Burke is in fact a Stanley Cup winning General Manager. He acquired Chris Pronger, Teemu Selanne, Francois Beauchemin, Todd Marchant, Scott Niedermayer, Chris Kunitz (who was reacquired off of waivers from Atlanta), George Parros, and Brad May, and built a roster that could score and out-muscle the teams that they faced on their way to the franchise's first title.

Con: While he did acquire those players on his way to a championship, some argue that Burke was almost handed a championship. Andy MacDonald, Sami Pahlsson, Corey Perry, Dustin Penner, Ryan Getzlaf, and Jean-Sebastien Giguere were already there.

Also, while he did exercise the Sergei Fedorov contract from Anaheim's books and receive Francois Beauchemin in return and then nab a disgruntled Chris Pronger from Edmonton, but it's difficult to gauge the hand Burke had in signing Niedermayer and Selanne. It was widely known that Selanne wanted to return to Anaheim to finish out his career, and after a 30-point 2003/04 with Colorado the market wasn't hot and heavy for Teemu.

Niedermayer was also looking for a place to play on the West Coast, and while Vancouver was rumored as his first choice, Burke had the biggest bargaining chip available giving Scott the opportunity to play with brother Rob.

Advantage: Pro

This one is a little difficult for me to swallow, as I've been one of the people who've argued the point that Burke did have a lot to work with in Anaheim. Despite all this, Burke was able to unload the Fedorov contract, and, advantages or not, he did acquire the two best defensemen available not named Lidstrom in Pronger and Niedermayer.

Both the Vancouver Canucks and Anaheim Ducks were turned into consistent playoff threats...

Pro: Burke built a regular-season juggernaut in Vancouver with some of the pieces who were already in place (Markus Naslund, Mattias Ohlund) and some whom he brought in (the Sedins). Following four-straight seasons of missing the playoffs (1996/97-1999/00), the Canucks followed that up with four-straight playoff appearances under Burke, a Northwest division title, and they featured one of the most vaunted offenses in the league, leading it in scoring in 2001/02.

With the Ducks, they made it to the Conference Finals in their first year under Burke following a disappointing final season before the lockout, and the very next season the Ducks won the cup. Their defense was short-lived though, losing out to Dallas in the first round last season.

Con: While the Canucks were a great regular season team, they were a terrible playoff team. The squad was dogged with inconsistency, questionable goaltending, and unexpected early exits. Three of the four seasons Burke was in Vancouver, the team never made it out of the first round, and the year they did (2002/03) they lost in seven to Minnesota.

If Burke had been in Anaheim a few more years (or at least until the end of this season), it'd be interesting to see if the Ducks would respond more like the '07 team or the '08 team when faced with playoff adversity.

Advantage Con

Although Burke did win the cup with that team in Anaheim, the troubles encountered in the first round with Vancouver and last year with Anaheim don't bode well for Leaf fans hopes, ring or not.

Then again, this is a city that throws a parade when the Leafs make the playoffs.

Burke stands by and supports his players

Pro: Let's face it—Toronto needs management who will stand by their players through the good times and bad in this media market, it's been the problem going all the way back to the Harold Ballard era.

A vocal General Manager who will support his players and lash back at the media when the going gets rough has helped players gain confidence and let's them like the situation in which they play.

Getting players comfortable is half the battle.

Con: Burke has a habit of picking favorites and riding them out, whether they work or not. Case in point: Dan Cloutier.

Burke's attitude may also hurt the roster during the beginning stages of his tenure, as he may be seen as picking favorites, which could divide a locker room until the roster is altered to exclude those players, or they decide to play for him.

Advantage: Pro

Whether or not it divides a locker room, this is the kind of person the players need. If it divides the roster then he can just trade the ones who don't like it away anyhow.

Burke has also made no bones about the fact that he offers a ten-day extension on the NHL's no-movement period prior to Christmas.

Burke is a shrewd negotiator who can construct a team based around the present and the future...

Pro: First of all, Burke doesn't deal with no-trade clauses. The only one that he's handed out to his players in Anaheim is the one given to Jean-Sabastien Giguere, and that's due to health concerns over Giguere's children.

From then on, he signed Kunitz, Perry, and Getzlaf to long-term deals, securing the future of the Ducks' until 2011/12 (when Kunitz's deal runs it's course), while he's also left Anaheim with a plethora of young, talented defensemen with size to boot.

Con: While Burke has built a fairly strong team, Anaheim is also crippled with regards to cap space. They currently have just over 300k in cap space, with 15 players approaching free agency.

Advantage (Slightly): Con

While Burke was able to work around a lot of large contracts and construct a competitive team (and he also had to deal with the prospective "retirements" of Scott Niedermayer and Teemu Selanne last season) and the Ducks have some strong young players locked up for the next few years, the cap position the Ducks are in right now, and the mass of free agency approaching this offseason, Burke's left the club in an interesting position.

Burke is Anti-European

Pro: The Leafs have been Euro-centric for a pretty long time now, and it really hasn't gotten them anywhere. Although Burke isn't entirely anti-Euro (He's openly said that he won't deal someone just because of their birth certificate), having a GM dedicated to bringing another fledgling-star from Canada (or North America in general) to pair with Luke Schenn will bring some much-needed personality and grit to this team.

Con: Burke has said that a selection of the European players on the Leafs' roster will be safe (namely Mikhail Grabovski, Nikolai Kulemin, and Nik Hagman), but a North American makeover could take away a level of comfort from some of the European players, and a hard-nosed leader like Burke may try to blend the line too often between skill and grit, rather than one or the other.

Advantage: Pro

To be honest, I don't care if the team is stocked with European players or Canadians, however it's been far too long since the Leafs have had some good Northern content that hasn't been imported through free agency. If Burke can bring more of a national feel to a team that's named after the leaf of an iconic tree, all the better.

Burke has the ego to work in Toronto

Pro: Many have said that because of the fact that Burke doesn't care what his judges say about him, he's the perfect person to man the helm for the Leafs. Burke is a genius and he knows it, and he knows how to play the media's games.

Con: The biggest worry I have about Burke, is the idea that he could become so enamoured with being the man who brings Stanley back for a Toronto tour that he becomes too concentrated on that idea, and he doesn't actually follow through.

Normally, I'd be concerned about Burke and his attitude wreaking havoc in Toronto, but with such a diverse and intelligent group surrounding him (Cliff Fletcher, Jeff Jackson, Joe Nieuwendyk, Al Coates), that everyone's eyes should remain on the prize  and Burke  could thrive with the variety of minds around him.

Advantage: Pro

I give Burke the benefit of the doubt because Bobby Clarke has gone on record saying that he believes Burke is smart enough to stay out of his own way. It's still a concern that weighs a little heavily on my mind, but the group surrounding Burke also helps me rest a little more at ease.

So what does it all mean?

In a lot of ways, Burke looks like a good fit in Toronto, despite the items on his resume that raise a few reg flags. He does have the attitude, he's surrounded himself with smart hockey minds, he's going to bring a more home-town feel to this team, and Stanley Cup championship or not, Burke is going to build this team into a hard-nosed competitor.

I still may be skeptical, and may not be fully on board with the Brian Burke regime yet, but I'll wait to see what he does with the team before jumping on or off his case.

Who knows, in the next six years he could surprise me.

Or he could go the way of J.P. Ricciardi—time to wait and see.

Bryan Thiel is a Senior Writer and an NHL Community Leader for Bleacher Report. You can get in contact with BT through his profile, and you can also check out all of his previous work in his archives.