Burke was positive about Yandle, Ryan, and Johnson earlier on in the process. He said Yandle was picking teams apart, argued that there were few American goal scorers better than Ryan, and talked lots about how much he liked Johnson. I'm sure Burke would take all 3 on his NHL roster. His comments were more about current level of play and fit on the roster and while not tactful we're honest comments. Burke prefers a more well-rounded defenceman to an offensive defenceman for the bottom pair and extra D-man. He thinks There is not a point of having Ryan on the team if he's not in a top-6 role, which is a fair point. While the comments were blunt, the players are pros and in consideration for an Olympic team so I don't think their feelings should be hurt.
In regards to Orpik and Martin, they were coaches choices and Poile decided to take their input.
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