Grade BURKE's trade deadline day

[The Fonz]

B+

As disappointed as I am with not moving Cammalleri, I do respect Burke's decision to keep him and risk losing him for nothing, versus trading him for below value (I'm guessing he was only being offered a 3rd).

Stempniak trade was a good one in this market. When the stars of deadline day are only worth 2nd round picks (Vanek/Moulson/Gaborik), getting a 3rd for Stemp was a good trade.

Berra trade was unbelievable. So much so that it makes me nervous.

[DOOM]

Originally Posted by Matty81

You're right that we don't know the return but if he isn't resigning, that's like cutting off your nose to spite your face, literally any return is better.

Sticking to your guns and losing a 4th or 3rd round pick, however little value that has, is poor asset management, something this franchise is becoming synonymous with.

Sticking to your guns, going with your gut and other decisions based on emotion and hard headedness instead of cold hard and logical asset maximization are the reasons this franchise is probably 3 years behind in the rebuild cycle from where they should be.

Agree to disagree.

A 3rd and 4th round pick is not going to determine the success of this rebuild.

At this point we need to have some vets kept around, if Cammalleri is brought back it opens the door to a possible Hudler deal.

If Hemsky/Gaborik etc went for 1st round picks or solid prospects I would be angry, but the market was obviously not there for Cammalleri.

[djsFlames]

One thing to keep in mind is that there weren't many prospects moved today either. I realize some wanted to see trades that brought improvements to the system here (myself included), but seems like good prospects/young players were at a premium today, and we just didn't have the prettiest girls at the dance. Tough market overall, I would've expected 1sts at a minimum offered for guys like Vanek and Moulson in years past without a doubt. Wasn't even close and that's hard to believe with the strength of the upcoming draft.

[TheDebaser]

Burke played chicken and got run right over.

That Berra trade makes the situation a lot better though.


If Cammy doesn't sign C- if Cammy does sign B+

[Lanny_McDonald]

Berra - A+
Stempniak - B
Butler - F
Cammalleri - F
Hockey Trade - F

Overall - C

To a neophyte a C is a passing grade. To a master GM like Brian Burke, a C is a failing grade.

The thing about Burke that annoys me is he talks a lot. I didn't like the fact that he talked smack about the return Feaster managed to get for Iginla and Bouwmeester, inferring he would have done better. He also talked about how he was going to lead the way coming into the deadline, making a deal or two prior to the Olympic break. He failed at every turn, with the exception of Berra, who Feaster acquired and who another team came calling for and "over paid" to get. I would prefer if Burke would just shut up and do his job. Save the yapping to the media for when you actually have some results to report. Three press conferences in 36 hours with little to report was just too much, especially for a guy who said he was going to stay out of the limelight. Burke promised big things, returned nothing on his biggest asset, and saw his biggest return on a player he had discounted. Was just an ugly day for the franchise and the fans. I hope the love affair with Burke is now over and he gets judged as the other GMs have been.

[Matty81]

Originally Posted by DOOM

Agree to disagree.

A 3rd and 4th round pick is not going to determine the success of this rebuild.

At this point we need to have some vets kept around, if Cammalleri is brought back it opens the door to a possible Hudler deal.

If Hemsky/Gaborik etc went for 1st round picks or solid prospects I would be angry, but the market was obviously not there for Cammalleri.

If Cammy comes back, I'll agree with you.

Why he would re-sign with the Flames for anything short of a massive overpayment, extended term and NTC is beyond me though and if he leaves, it's a fail.

Although a 3rd rounder won't be the difference, it's like someone offering you $5 for a ticket you aren't going to use and then just throwing it in the garbage instead.

[puffnstuff]

I really think he should have kept his 'GMs make more mistakes on trade deadline day' line under his hat instead for a few more days. I know he has said it in years previous...but quit reminding them right before the deadline.

[trackercowe]

I'd give him a C+, but very few teams really made stellar moves today. The only teams I'd give an A grade to would be Montreal and Tampa Bay (and St. Louis for the Miller trade). No one else really made moves that were significant enough to separate them from the pack. So at least in comparison what Burke did is essentially equivalent to the majority of managers.

[DOOM]

Originally Posted by Matty81

If Cammy comes back, I'll agree with you.

Why he would re-sign with the Flames for anything short of a massive overpayment, extended term and NTC is beyond me though and if he leaves, it's a fail.

Although a 3rd rounder won't be the difference, it's like someone offering you $5 for a ticket you aren't going to use and then just throwing it in the garbage instead.

Yea, by the time the draft rolls around and if he hasn't re-signed yet ill likely be wishing we had a couple more picks.

The Flames are a team that can give him a massive overpayment though (hopefully on a one or maybe two year deal)

[moon]

As some have said tough day to grade.

A++++ for the steal of a 2nd for Berra who I would have been fine if he left for nothing.

Stempniak got what I expected so that is a fine move.

F-- for not moving Cammy or Butler. Even a 3rd for Cammy and a 5th for Butler would have been better than nothing.

F------ for talking about re-signing either of those guys. Bad enough they are still here for the rest of the year hopefully he doesn't compound things by signing them to come back next year.

I also would have liked to see a "hockey move" or at least something to deal off some of the deadweight the team has that aren't UFA's (D. Jones, Ramo, Wideman, Galiardi, SOB) and start to change the make-up of this team but those deals may not have been there today and can still be made at the draft or over the summer.

Overall I give him a C+ largely on the Berra steal but that is downgraded to a D if he re-signs Butler and Cammy and it appears that was a reason for not dealing them when he could have.

[Brad Marsh]

I would rate it as a D.

The return for Berra was much higher than I expected, but Berra has consistently improved since the season started, and the team is still without an answer at the goaltending position going forward, and Berra had as much chance as some of our other prospects at being part of the solution, IMO. So while its great to get another second round pick, the deal also costs a player that may have been part of a solution to a position of need. I still make the trade if I'm Burke, and i like the trade, but it is far from the grand slam being celebrated on CP today - at the end of the day it's just a second round pick. The other thing is that it sounds like this trade kind of fell in Burke's lap (Colorado came to him), so while he deserves credit for pulling the trigger, it's not like this was part of his overall strategy heading into the day.

The Stempniak deal was probably a fair trade. No problems with that move, but let's be honest, a third round pick coming back isn't a huge asset and statistically is very unlikely to turn into anything significant. Fair, fine, but very minor.

What pulls the grade down for me is the inability to orchestrate a deal for Cammalleri. He was our only tradable asset that would have returned something of value for the rebuild and Burke simply couldn't pull the trigger. A Gaborik-style return would have helped the team, was out there for the taking today, but Burke couldn't get it done. Remember, Burke went into the deadline with every intention of flipping the asset, now it likely walks away for nothing.

If the organization can sign an extension with Cammalleri, then I might rate the his day differently, but until that happens.........it's a D grade from me!

[ForeverFlameFan]

Originally Posted by New Era

Berra - A+
Stempniak - B
Butler - F
Cammalleri - F
Hockey Trade - F

Overall - C

To a neophyte a C is a passing grade. To a master GM like Brian Burke, a C is a failing grade.

The thing about Burke that annoys me is he talks a lot. I didn't like the fact that he talked smack about the return Feaster managed to get for Iginla and Bouwmeester, inferring he would have done better. He also talked about how he was going to lead the way coming into the deadline, making a deal or two prior to the Olympic break. He failed at every turn, with the exception of Berra, who Feaster acquired and who another team came calling for and "over paid" to get. I would prefer if Burke would just shut up and do his job. Save the yapping to the media for when you actually have some results to report. Three press conferences in 36 hours with little to report was just too much, especially for a guy who said he was going to stay out of the limelight. Burke promised big things, returned nothing on his biggest asset, and saw his biggest return on a player he had discounted. Was just an ugly day for the franchise and the fans. I hope the love affair with Burke is now over and he gets judged as the other GMs have been.

1. Iginla and Bouwmeeester were both higher assets than anyone that we have right now. If they were both here, Burke would have for sure have got more in return than what Feaster did.

2. Burke doesn't seem like he is talking the talk. He seemed pretty straight forward that he wanted to trade Cammy for NHL ready forwards or at least almost ready (prospects I suppose). Draft picks that he got from Berra and Stempniak were probably the best he could do for this deadline.

[Lanny_McDonald]

Originally Posted by DOOM

if Cammalleri is brought back it opens the door to a possible Hudler deal.

No, it doesn't. What gives you the impression that Cammalleri provides anything that Hudler brings to the game? Cammalleri is a one way player, and a very poor one at that. Hudler is a very good two way player and is on a great contract. Those are the type of players you want to keep in your organization, not dump so you can bring in an inferior player. Burke screwed up by not dumping Cammalleri for any asset. I hope he doesn't compound that mistake by re-signing him and then trading away one of his better players.

[jaymac106]

I would rate it B. However, it may not be all doom and gloom, if Cammy signs a tradeable contract with us maybe we can flip him for picks on draft day.

[Phanuthier]

Originally Posted by New Era

No, it doesn't. What gives you the impression that Cammalleri provides anything that Hudler brings to the game? Cammalleri is a one way player, and a very poor one at that. Hudler is a very good two way player and is on a great contract. Those are the type of players you want to keep in your organization, not dump so you can bring in an inferior player. Burke screwed up by not dumping Cammalleri for any asset. I hope he doesn't compound that mistake by re-signing him and then trading away one of his better players.

And you are outraged that we couldn't get anything for him?

[ForeverFlameFan]

Some of you are forgetting that Cammy can still sign an extension and can possibly be used as part of a trade on draft day. I bet a lot more teams would have been interested in him if he had more than just 20 games left on his contract (and a possible playoff run, depending on the team).

I don't really want to hate on Burke if he didn't like what was being offered to him.

[Aarongavey]

For my personal expectations of Brian Burke he got a B+. I never in a million years expected him to do anything positive. For an average NHL GM he would get a C+ in my books and compared to a good NHL GM he gets a C-.

[strombad]

Originally Posted by New Era

Berra - A+
Stempniak - B
Butler - F
Cammalleri - F
Hockey Trade - F

Overall - C

To a neophyte a C is a passing grade. To a master GM like Brian Burke, a C is a failing grade.

The thing about Burke that annoys me is he talks a lot. I didn't like the fact that he talked smack about the return Feaster managed to get for Iginla and Bouwmeester, inferring he would have done better. He also talked about how he was going to lead the way coming into the deadline, making a deal or two prior to the Olympic break. He failed at every turn, with the exception of Berra, who Feaster acquired and who another team came calling for and "over paid" to get. I would prefer if Burke would just shut up and do his job. Save the yapping to the media for when you actually have some results to report. Three press conferences in 36 hours with little to report was just too much, especially for a guy who said he was going to stay out of the limelight. Burke promised big things, returned nothing on his biggest asset, and saw his biggest return on a player he had discounted. Was just an ugly day for the franchise and the fans. I hope the love affair with Burke is now over and he gets judged as the other GMs have been.

Everyone will promise to stop blindly loving Burke once you (and others) stop blindly hating him. I mean, you're discounting him for things that DIDNT happen, and you are ACTUALLY discounting him for getting a high return on Berra. That's completely devoid of logic.

In short, nice try, never going to happen.

[DOOM]

Originally Posted by New Era

No, it doesn't. What gives you the impression that Cammalleri provides anything that Hudler brings to the game? Cammalleri is a one way player, and a very poor one at that. Hudler is a very good two way player and is on a great contract. Those are the type of players you want to keep in your organization, not dump so you can bring in an inferior player. Burke screwed up by not dumping Cammalleri for any asset. I hope he doesn't compound that mistake by re-signing him and then trading away one of his better players.

Hey, I like Hudler, but if we can make a good hockey deal to send him somewhere else you do it in a second.

Burke did not screw up by not "dumping Cammalleri"

By the time the Flames are competitive Hudler and Cammalleri wont be with the team anyway, imo.

[Vinny01]

C+

Berra was a very good trade, Stempniak was expected but not moving Butler or Cammy was disappointing.