Brian Burke says some wild stuff about his former employer

In an act of jealousy and desperation from his media member throne, former Leafs GM Brian Burke had some weird comments on PrimeTime Sports with Gord Stellick yesterday.

Toronto has not talked about future contracts for players in a couple of weeks, so it was really overdue. The man with the hedgehog-like appearance took to the radio to voice some opinions he has on some Leafs stars and how much money they should make.

This old storyline of winger Mitch Marner getting the same contract value as number-one pick and hockey messiah Auston Matthews is getting, well, old.

Somehow his hot start next to one of the best centers in the world has warranted him to be in the conversation to earn more than 99% of the players in the NHL. An ideal world would be every player getting what they deserve, but we live with a hard salary cap and that sucks ass.

Saying Auston Matthews does not sell tickets is asinine. Both players are exciting, but Matthews scoring a goal from his spot on the opposing goalie’s right is so damn beautiful. We can love both players but automatically saying one doesn’t do anything is bogus.

It’s not like the Leafs, of all teams, should be worried about selling tickets or finances in any way at all. One of the richest clubs in hockey, with an easy storyline of how expensive their tickets are, doesn’t really need to concern themselves with entertainment value.

If Burke was involved with Hockey Canada, these comments would make a little more sense –  getting that big “good ol’ Canadian boy Mitchell Marner” written in the sky above his home. But instead, his work with USA Hockey should warrant praise for the player he’s criticizing for not being exciting.

Not to mention the fact that just last season, Matthews had the highest-selling jersey among all NHL players, and this season he’s ranked 13th, probably because everyone already has his jersey. If that doesn’t describe popularity or ability to sell anything on a per-player basis, nothing else will.

Burke continues to go off about someone that has already faced so much scrunity before he even played a single game this season.

Everyone has already gone through the Nylander trade scenarios and everyone should be tired of it. His recent play and his ability to play a center (which is valued higher, for a reason), should just get rid of any on-ice doubts.

He has arguably been the best player on this team in the year of our Lord 2019, so why should anyone think about trading him? He has already signed his contract so why the hell is anyone talking about this stuff?

The comment about Jake Gardiner might be just truth, unfortunately. The defenceman has been missed while he’s out with injury (and every fan is freaking the hell out), but a new hypothetical contract might not fit within the Leafs cap next year.

Solution to “who are they going to get?”, might just be re-signing their top defenceman. Easy, but why not re-sign with a team for three or four years (hypothetically), that can win a championship and then grab some money later on (hypothetically).

We all know Burke just wants some credit for the team being good again. You know, the team that he tried to ham-fist into the playoffs and traded off some very good players and ruined some good feelings about this team by hiring the worst people.

Hindsight is everything and we should definitely just leave his recent comments behind us. Ignore his sputtering and let’s have some fun with a team that’s, you know, good.