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Boston’s GM hopes you don’t judge Brian Burke on the Kessel trade alone

Cam Neely, Peter Chiarelli

Boston Bruins general manager Peter Chiarelli, right, responds to a question as Bruins president Cam Neely, left, looks on during a news conference at the TD Garden before a scheduled NHL team hockey practice in Boston, Sunday, Jan. 13, 2013. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

AP

When former Maple Leafs GM Brian Burke was fired before the start of the season, one thing many did was go over his legacy in Toronto. Part of that is scrutinizing any and all the deals he made during his tenure and the one to bring Phil Kessel to the Leafs from Boston stands out for a few big reasons, namely Tyler Seguin and Dougie Hamilton.

Bruins GM Peter Chiarelli says it’s not fair to judge him based on that deal alone. Mike Zeisberger of the Toronto Sun has that story.

“When you are in this job, we all have made deals that we’d like to have back. We’ve all made deals that we’d like to have a do-over on.

“I’m not saying Brian feels that way about the (Kessel) trade. I don’t know that. I mean, they got a 35-goal scorer out of the deal.”

“Obviously, you can’t gauge a deal until all the pieces are in place and we see how everyone does long-term,” Chiarelli explained.

Since we’re all about snap judgments, it sure seems like the Bruins won that deal. That’s not to say Burke didn’t make other moves to the benefit of the Leafs, he did. Getting Jake Gardiner, Joffrey Lupul, Mikhail Grabovski, and James van Riemsdyk in separate deals all showed how good he was at making trades.

Like Chiarelli said though, sometimes there’s one you want to have back.