Brian Burke is a confident, talented man.

When he runs your franchise, you can be damn well sure that anything less than your best will not be tolerated, whether your office is in a cubicle or behind the net. The guy makes trades like he's running an NHL team on PlayStation 3.

When he became the Toronto Maple Leafs' general manager, his actions reflected what must have been his attitude – "we need better players to win games."

We all tend to overstate the value of non-player factors that affect a team's winning percentage. In reality, you can probably only coach a team up or down a couple of wins. Maybe other things go well for your team, like good chemistry, a smooth travel schedule, or you have an effective training staff. The small percentage points that these things change can add up, but only so far.

The cold, hard fact is that the best teams get off the bus with the best roster, and you need that talent to win. Burke is well aware of that fact, and acts accordingly.

As much as you don't want to promote the frequent uprooting of players lives, family and all, you have to wonder ... what are other general managers on perennially bad teams doing? Waiting for the year that all their little percentage points go in the right direction and they crack the playoffs? Frankly, that's not a good enough goal.

As a New York Islanders fan, I was okay with Garth Snow's plan to build through the draft (read: spend no money and accept a few losing seasons) until I really got to thinking about it. If the point of not trading is to "save money," wouldn't spending the money to have a good team be better for the team's bank account? Don't they make more on ticket sales, merchandise, parking, concession, and the other 90 ways they milk the fans eight bucks at a time when they're actually good?

I like the direction of the Islanders. I genuinely do. Snow has done a nice job in an understated way – the way owner Charles Wang wants his team run right now – but isn't "understatement" the way you manage a "good" team?

Far be it for me to criticize a team that improved from one year to the next. But it's not unfair to ask: "was it worth the complete forfeit of two entire seasons to your fan base?" Isn't there some level of obligation to your season ticket holders, where instead of planting an orange seed and waiting for it to grow, you go out and buy a few damn oranges?

I liked the Brian Burke trade for Phil Kessel for one major reason – the inconsistency of players meeting their potential from the draft. Let's say Boston drafts two kids high, which was the plan. Odds are that one of them won't live up to the high standards. They may both end up NHLers, but you need difference-makers to win. So if one of them ends up being a great player, will he be much better than Phil Kessel?

It's a crap shoot, one you'll have to wait about four years to find out the answer to. In the meantime, Brian Burke and the Maple Leafs are snacking on the ripe orange that is Phil Kessel (almost a point a game) while the Bruins, with a much better team, have the worst offense in the league. Their fans are hungry for some goals, now.

At some point – say, this summer – Snow should look into picking up someone to help support all these young kids they've been playing.

Steven Stamkos is in his second year as an NHLer and threatening for the Rocket Richard Trophy. John Tavares is supposed to be that guy for the Islanders next year, but if he never gets to play with a Vincent Lecavalier or a Martin St. Louis, how many tallies are the Islanders forfeiting from his point column? 

In order to juice their oranges for all they're worth, they need to bring some real talent into the lineup.  A 90-point guy isn't a 90-point guy in every situation. It depends how you fertilize, grow and maximize the talent.

As an Isles fan that just watched another season go down in flames, I'm finding it hard to be patient. Like the rest of the fans, I need to see some oranges in our tree next year.

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