The Leafs were quiet today, only trading minor leaguer John Mitchell for a 7th, but weren't quiet in days leading up to the trade deadline.
"I think people know this, we try to get out in front of the trade deadline," Burke said. "I think it's easier to make the deals you want before it's gets confused and before the aisle gets crowded. We've made a couple of deals and Nashville made a good-sized deal with Ottawa, so I think you'll probably see more activity in advance of the deadline for that reason. It just gets confused. It's like a cattle stampede at the deadline." - NESN.com
Burke had consistently stated that he wanted to get out ahead of the trade market and make deals before other GMs. Burke wanted to set the market for his assets and he did, trading Kris Versteeg, Francois Beauchemin and Tomas Kaberle for two late first round picks, prospects Jake Gardiner and Joe Colborne and a few later round picks.
Not a lot of quality players changed hands today. Los Angeles got Dustin Penner, and it's not surprising Burke wouldn't deal with Edmonton for Penner given the history there, and that's pretty much it for blockbuster deals. The Penner deal is the only trade that saw a first change hands today.
I know a lot of people are disappointed the Leafs didn't add Brad Richards, Ales Hemsky, Stephen Weiss and Tomas Vokoun but there wasn't a lot of movement today... just what Burke wanted.