Quote:
Originally Posted by Aarongavey
Burke's drafting history
1993 - Chris Pronger 2nd overall, Marek Malik 72rd overall, Nolan Pratt 115th, Manny Legace 188 - pretty good draft for Burke
1998 - Bryan Allen 4th overall, Artem Chubarov 31st overall, Jarko Ruutu 68th overall, busts out on his other 9 picks - ok draft
1999 - Sedin's, nothing else - pretty good draft to get two anchors for your team for the next 10-15 years
2000 - 7 picks, nothing squat - terrible draft
2001 - RJ Umberger (could not sign him, traded him and a prospect for Martin Rucinsky), Kevin Bieksa - Bieksa was a great find in the 5th round but he got next to nothing for a first round pick
2002 - nothing
2003 - Kesler, nothing else - below average draft
2005 - Bobby Ryan 2nd overall and Brendan Mickelson nothing else - pretty poor draft
2006 - Matt Belesky, nothing else - terrible draft
2007 - 8 picks and the best player was Erik Tangradi. Horrific draft
2009 - Nazem Kadri 5th overall, nothing else - does not look like a good draft right now
2010 - Nothing right now
2011 - Nothing right now
2012 - Rielly at 5th overall
Looks pretty sparse for old Brian Burke in terms of drafting. For the most part it appears that Burke is bit like Kevin Lowe in terms of drafting, he does pretty good with top 5 picks and after that he does nothing.
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I got to say this is an absolute horrific assessment of his drafting record. Just because a team only picks up one or two good players in a draft does not mean it was necessarily a "bad" draft. Heck most teams strike out year after year, and picking up one solid top six player would be an achievement.
Getting both Sedin's equates to a "pretty good draft"... Have you looked at who else was taken that year? After the Sedin's, there are only a handful of players even worth noting as established NHLers (Zetterberg, Havlat, Jackman, Erat, Vrbata). That was a tremendously bad draft year, and yet Burke made a great deal to pick up both Sedin twins, and ensured Vancouver would be a competitive team for over a decade. But I guess since he didn't take Zetterberg that draft was only "pretty good".
In 2001, unfortunately he was unable to sign Umberger, but he was able to trade him for an established NHLer in Rucinsky. Maybe it didn't work out, but most deadline deals don't work out in the end. Prospects are traded all time time, so I find it hard to be that critical of him that year and say it wasn't a good draft for him.
Obviously 2003 was an outliner year in that there were plenty of good players available. Hate on Kesler all you want, but Burke stole him at 23rd overall, and now he's probably a top ten player from that draft. Only one player taken in the first round after Kesler has more points than him (Cory Perry). So he got extremely good value right there. Really the only pick you can be critical of was his second rounder (60th overall), but it's not like there were a ton of great players still on the board. Sure he could have got more out of that draft, but still one very solid player is better than what we ended up with.
2005 was another poor draft year, and even if he didn't want Ryan over Johnson it still was decent enough considering the circumstances. He didn't get much out of his later picks, but it's a rarity that most teams find good players later in the draft. He definitely could have done better here, but I still wouldn't chalk it up as a terrible draft.
2006 and 2007 were bad, without question. But it's a tad excusable since they were just coming off winning the Cup. He more than made up for his failures at the draft through solid trades and astute UFA signings. Just like in Vancouver the Ducks were always competitive, so they either didn't have first round picks, or were picking low in the draft. At least when he does pick near the top he has a proven track record, and that's a good thing considering where we're at right now. When picking in the top ten you could argue Burke has taken the best available player each time (Pronger, Sedin's, Ryan, and even Kadri could be a possibility).
It's a tad too early to judge what he did in Toronto, but I'd say it's fair to think he's at least on par to what the Flames did during that same time period. Both teams have a couple solid NHLers, and also a fair amount of busts. Just like you shouldn't judge the 2011/12 draft on our side quite yet, you shouldn't judge theirs. Although Kadri looks like a bonafide top six forward, while the jury is still out on Sven.
Overall I think Burke's draft record shows he's at least competent, he's definitely better in other forms of player acquisition, but even though he may not succeed every year, that does not mean his entire drafting record should be called into question.