Land of the Leaf

The print presses are spinning out of control in Toronto thanks to Brian Burke’s announcement that his strategy heading into the draft is to “immediately attempt to move up”.  The NHL’s draft lottery is tonight, Burke stated earlier today that he intends to talk to every team between the Maple Leafs and the first overall pick.  I know what you’re thinking, but it’s not going to happen.

We all need to take a step back and consider what John Tavares actually offers.  He offers a shot at a solid foundation to rebuild around.  That’s it, just a shot.  Us Canadians, we have a penchant to build hype around 18-year old boys and label them things like “The Next One” and other such near-sighted titles.  I don’t think John Tavares is the next Sidney Crosby, but I am cautiously optimistic that he’s not going to be the next Alexandre Daigle either.  Let’s just say that maybe Tavares doesn’t have the same head on his shoulders that greats like Gretzky, Lemieux, Yzerman, and Crosby had when they were coming into the league.

Tavares could be a great player, he may become one of the all-time greats that advanced scouting and his on-ice play with other children his age has led us to believe.  If that is the case, then who in their right fucking mind would be willing to trade the opportunity to Toronto for a bunch of gear-bags?  Assuming that the New York Islanders land the first pick, does Burke call Garth Snow and say:

“Hey Garth, you have Tavares on your radar there, but let me offer you a handful of guys that have been a part of teams that failed to accomplish anything.  You can have anyone on my team, except my lone good player and young stud Luke Schenn.  Take your pick Garth, you want Jason Blake back, how about our offensive defenseman that doesn’t score?”

For the love of Garth Snow, just leave this alone and come up with some plausible solutions to make this team competitive.  And if Tavares pulls an Eric Lindros and says he won’t play for team X, I’ll punch the little fucker in the lips myself.