The hot takes continued from Sportsnet analyst Brian Burke who was on a roll as a guest on a recent episode of the Spittin’ Chiclets podcast. Already having called out the Toronto Maple Leafs for their decision to sign veteran center Joe Thornton, Burke took aim at the Pittsburgh Penguins who he called, “not good enough to win.”
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The ex-general manager is known for stirring the pot a little as a media personality. So, when he said a team that has both Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin on it was not good enough to win, people’s ears perked up a bit. Especially because the Penguins GM is acting and making moves to remain competitive. Jim Rutherford has not folded the tent or given up on trying to improve the team. In fact, his moves this offseason suggest the opposite.
Burke is a fan of Rutherford. So, before he blasted his friend’s approach to building his team, he made sure to point that out. Second, it sounds like Burke was more using the Penguins as an example of the type of drama that’s plaguing the Chicago Blackhawks and their dilemma with some of their stars who aren’t keen on going through a rebuild.
Still, he said what he said, and what he said was the following:
It is the same thing Jimmy Rutherford is saying in Pittsburgh ‘I’ve got two elite players we’re not going to a total rebuild were gonna try and win.’ I don’t think Pittsburgh is good enough to win. No matter what they do now with their cap situation I think that window has closed, for me. I love Jimmy Rutherford, you know that, but I look in the East and I say are they better than Tampa? Nope. Are they better than Washington? Nope. Are they better than Boston? Nope.
Burke Seems to Think It’s Better To “Get Bad Fast”
While not doing much more than suggesting the Penguins are going about their future all wrong, Burke essentially pointed out the Penguins should realize they’re aren’t good enough to compete with the best teams in the Eastern Conference. As such, the better strategy would be get really bad and fast.
The idea here would be to sell off valuable assets for high-end draft picks and restock the team as quickly as possible, build through the draft and start again.
Does that mean Burke is an advocate of moving players like Crosby or Malkin? That much he didn’t say, but what else could he possibly mean?
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