Brian Burke seems to enjoy opening up about his would-be trades that never came to fruition.
One week after saying his Anaheim Ducks made a better offer than the San Jose Sharks did for Joe Thornton in 2005, the former NHL general manager discussed another deal he didn't make, this time toward the end of his Toronto Maple Leafs tenure.
We were all in hard on Luongo around the time when I got fired. The price would have come down to a lot but we were in the mix. They asked for Gardiner, Kadri and two firsts. Way too step, even for @strombone1 https://t.co/QNto0oM5XU
— Brian Burke (@Burkie2020) April 3, 2020
Toronto fired Burke on Jan. 9, 2013.
The Vancouver Canucks ended up shipping Roberto Luongo back to the Florida Panthers in March 2014 in a package deal that netted them Jacob Markstrom, their current No. 1 goalie.
During the lockout-shortened 2012-13 season, Jake Gardiner was in his second NHL campaign after registering 30 points across 75 games in his rookie year. Nazem Kadri was in the midst of his first full season with the Maple Leafs and went on to post 44 points in 48 games before playing another six largely productive years with the club.
As for the two first-round picks, it's unclear at which drafts they would have applied, but Toronto selected Frederik Gauthier 21st overall in 2013. The team chose William Nylander eighth overall the following year and Mitch Marner with the No. 4 pick in 2015.
Burke began guiding the Leafs in November 2008. He spent three seasons with the Ducks prior to that, winning the Stanley Cup in 2006-07. He also served as the Canucks GM from 1998 to 2004.
The longtime executive spent five seasons as president of hockey operations for the Calgary Flames from 2013 to 2018 before joining Sportsnet as a studio analyst.
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