Brian Burke believes the Leafs should shop the No. 1 pick hard: Leafs Morning Take
The Colorado Avalanche continue to look like the team to beat in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
We kicked off the Tuesday edition of Leafs Morning Take by breaking down Colorado’s 5-2 win over Minnesota in Game 4, giving the Avalanche a commanding 3-1 series lead behind another statement performance from Nathan MacKinnon and his relentless drive to win. At this point, Colorado looks like they’re on a collision course with Carolina, but there’s still plenty of hockey left to be played.
We also touched on Mitch Marner and his strong postseason run with the Vegas Golden Knights, and what it all means for Toronto Maple Leafs fans watching from afar. As Rosie pointed out, two things can be true at once: Marner is currently leading all playoff scorers with 16 points, but his history in Toronto tells a different story — just one goal in 26 games during potential series-clinching situations (Games 5–7), where he struggled to elevate when it mattered most.
Meantime, we broke down the news everyone saw coming: Shane Doan is done in Toronto. On Monday, it was revealed that the Leafs and Doan had mutually parted ways. His contract was already set to expire on June 30 anyway. The 49-year-old was a direct hire of Brad Treliving, joining the organization in the spring of 2023 as a special advisor to the general manager. On top of that, it’s well known that Doan and John Chayka have not been on good terms dating back to their time together in Arizona.Translation: none of this comes as a surprise.
After that, Brian Burke dropped by to discuss the biggest storylines surrounding the Toronto Maple Leafs. He shared his thoughts on Auston Matthews’ future in Toronto, the significance of the Leafs potentially holding the No. 1 overall pick, and why he believes the organization should aggressively shop it. Burke also revisited the legendary Sedin twins trade in Vancouver, weighed in on Craig Berube’s future behind the bench, and outlined what his biggest priorities would be if he were running the Leafs this offseason.
Coming up on the Wednesday edition of Leafs Morning Take, we’re going to dive deeper into Gavin McKenna as the projected No. 1 pick’s head coach from Penn State, Guy Gadowsky, will drop by the show.