Brian Burke, whose son Brendan was one of hockey's few openly gay players, has joined an anti-homophobia campaign.Reuters
Brian Burke said the fact the Toronto Maple Leafs are not preparing for a playoff game means "the organization as a group has failed" but the general manager expects his team to make the Stanley Cup tournament a year from now.
"I think we're good enough with a couple of additions," Burke said at his season-ending press conference on Wednesday. "The playoffs are a reasonable goal."
To that end, Burke said, he will be looking for at least one top-six forward and a couple of bottom-six forwards who will be big and tough. He said the goaltending, with J.S. Giguere and pending restricted free agent Jonas Gustavsson, and the defence will remain in place.
The lone exception may be Tomas Kaberle. The defenceman has a no-movement clause in his contract but it lifts for the summer. Burke said he told Kaberle on Monday that he will not be actively shopping him around but will listen to any offers. He also said it is quite possible he will ask Kaberle to sign a contract extension.
"My job is to listen [to offers]" Burke said. "We're going to take advantage of the window but we're not going to shop him around."
Kaberle has one year left on his contract at $4.25-million, a good number for the salary cap. Burke said he told Kaberle discussions on an extension "is the next possibility" and that Kaberle "made it clear he wants to stay."
Burke emphasized he is not in the middle of any "five-year rebuilding plan" but did not want to say just how close the Leafs are to calling his restructuring, which began about 18 months ago, complete.
"That is an excellent question for which I have no answer at this point in time," Burke said.
In order for the Leafs to make the playoffs next season, several things have to fall in place in addition to his attempts to bring in more talent. Young forwards like centre Tyler Bozak and winger Luca Caputi have to add some muscle and defenceman Mike Komisarek, whose season was shortened due to shoulder surgery, must be healthy.
Burke said the choice of the next Leaf captain will be up to head coach Ron Wilson. Since Wilson has already made it clear defenceman Dion Phaneuf is the likely choice, Burke allowed "we would support that."
The Leafs have several players headed to unrestricted and restricted free agency. Burke said he expects to re-sign restricted free agents Gustavsson and forward Nikolai Kulemin. He said pending unrestricted free agents Wayne Primeau and Rickard Wallin were told no decision has been made about them for next season.