But please, no more trades with Boston.

As for the Leafs they need a GM with the will to win a staring contest with the local media and fans and ice a lineup way under the cap while they rebuild the team’s organizational depth (really, step one should have been an overhaul of the staff and processes responsible for scouting, drafting and development but that’s not really Burkie’s style).

As it is Burke would be fine if he wasn’t overpaying six or seven players a million plus a year – but his insistence on remaining competitive has put him in this predicament and now the franchise needs to see a huge improvement from within just to make a step forward next year.

Still all this bellyaching in Toronto (boy the Star is really on the warpath these days) is a bit overblown, the Leafs are in a marginally better spot than when Burke arrived and if not for the Seguin/Kessel debacle his biggest mistakes would be a few bad contracts the organization can easily afford.