Brian Burke is five days out from his Hockey Hall of Fame induction. He was the Maple Leafs general manager from 2008 to 2013 and is famously remembered in Toronto for a controversial trade in 2009 with the Boston Bruins, when he traded for Phil Kessel in return for two first-round draft picks and a second-round selection. The Bruins used the picks to select star forward Tyler Seguin, Dougie Hamilton and Jared Knight.
During his appearance on the Leafs Morning Take show, Brian Burke gave his assessment of the Maple Leafs’ trade for Kirill Marchenko.
“… I don’t think it was a bad trade. I don’t think they got gypped. I think it’s a case where Marchenko is gonna be better for a while, and Matthew Knies is going to be a better player after that. I wouldn’t have done it, put it that way… I would not have done that trade. That to me reeks of, ‘We gotta get better right away.’ I don’t think that’s a mandate for this team,” said Burke.
Maple Leafs fans on X blasted the former NHL executive and future Hall of Famer for his opinion on the Toronto hockey club trading away Matthew Knies for Kirill Marchenko.
“This man is irrelevant,” wrote @Wagshasfun.
The Toronto Maple Leafs received Kirill Marchenko, Miles Wood and injured netminder Elvis Merzlikins, with Columbus holding back 18 percent of the salary, then handed Marchenko a six-year, $75 million extension at $12.5 million a season. The Blue Jackets acquired Matthew Knies, Emil Andrae, Steven Lorentz and a conditional 2027 second-round pick.
Kirill Marchenko has had a better start to Maple Leafs tenure than Matthew Knies in Columbus
Kirill Marchenko has 14 points from 6 goals and 8 assists in 14 games, and is currently out injured. He even scored a hat trick in the Maple Leafs’ loss to the Sabres on Oct. 15, 2026.
Matthew Knies got off to a fiery start to his Blue Jackets tenure with four points in his first two games, then six straight games without one. The 24-year-old forward now has five points through 13 games while averaging 18:03 TOI a night.
Edited by Srihari Anand
