Video emerges of an ex-Leafs GM turning down a trade for a Norris Trophy winner
His tenure in Toronto began with a lot of promise and, for a time, Brian Burke appeared to be the guy who was going to turn things around in Toronto. He was even one short conversation away from completely changing the trajectory of his Toronto Maple Leafs tenure in 2009. However, that conversation never took place and the rest, as they say, is history.
Ahead of the 2009 NHL Entry Draft, the Tampa Bay Lightning were listening in on offers for their 2nd overall pick. They had drafted Steven Stamkos with the 1st overall pick the year before and were in line for Victor Hedman, with the New York Islanders all but assured to draft John Tavares at #1.
There is actual video footage of Burke discussing a potential deal with the Lightning for the aforementioned 2nd overall pick. He started off by talking about how the Vancouver Canucks offered Kevin Bieksa, Alex Burrows, and their first round pick (22nd overall) in exchange for #2 overall. So to up the ante and to see if Tampa Bay was still interested, he called then-general-manager Brian Lawton and asked if a deal was still on the table. The Lightning allegedly wanted Luke Schenn from the Maple Leafs on top of their first rounder - the 7th overall pick they used on Nazem Kadri.
"Vancouver's made a major effort to get the 2nd pick out of Tampa Bay. We heard they offered... Burrows, Bieksa, and their own pick, those are two pretty good players. I talked to Lawton again this morning and said 'is there a deal there for us involving the second pick?', and he said no, unless Luke Schenn is in the deal, and we're not doing that."
Burke rejected the deal because he did not want to part with Schenn, who the Leafs had drafted with the 5th overall pick the year prior.
For comparison's sake, Schenn entered his draft with 28 points in 57 games for the Kelowna Rockets of the WHL, while Hedman scored 22 points in 43 games in the SHL for Modo - a professional hockey league.
Hedman would go on to become one of the best defensemen in the NHL with 147 goals and 676 points through 998 games in parts of 15 seasons. That also includes a Norris Trophy in 2017-18 and 5 more top-3 finishes for the Norris voting. Hedman, of course, won 2 Stanley Cups with the Lightning as well, claiming the Conn Smythe for his efforts in 2019-20, where he tallied 22 points in 25 games.
As for the Leafs, Kadri played in parts of 10 seasons for the club, scoring 161 goals and 357 points in 561 games before being dealt to the Colorado Avalanche after yet another suspension in the post-season.
Schenn wound up lasting 4 seasons in Toronto before being dealt to Philadelphia for James van Riemsdyk, where he tallied 75 points in 310 games and did not live up to his lofty expectations. He returned in last season ahead of the trade deadline but walked away as a free agent after a solid showing in the post-season.
Safe to say the Maple Leafs would have enjoyed a much different fate between the low years of 2008-09 to 2015-16 with Hedman in the fold. Burke might have even lasted longer than his 5-year reign.
| POLL | ||
DECEMBRE 1 | 641 ANSWERS Video emerges of an ex-Leafs GM turning down a trade for a Norris Trophy winner If you could go back in time and pull off a deal centered around Kadri and Schenn for Victor Hedman, would you do it? | ||
| Uhh.. DUH! | 370 | 57.7 % |
| No | 120 | 18.7 % |
| Yes, but it would depend on the full ask | 151 | 23.6 % |
| List of polls | ||
