Toronto Maple Leafs: Examining Brian Burke’s Roberto Luongo trade story

2) Leafs trade for Bernier

As mentioned, Burke was fired and any potential deal was unable to be agreed. Instead, the Leafs went on to acquire Jonathan Bernier in June 2013.

In return for acquiring Bernier, the Leafs gave the Los Angeles Kings Ben Scrivens, Matt Frattin and a second round draft pick. Even if Burke had negotiated a better return package than the one the Canucks wanted for Luongo, it wouldn’t have been as good as what the Kings received.

You knew Bernier had talent, highlighted by his excellent reflexes and good positioning. This contributed to why the Kings had picked him 11th overall in the 2006 draft.

In this respect, the 31-year-old certainly played well in Los Angeles. However, he was part of a very good roster which won the 2012 Stanley Cup and he had never been a number one goaltender in the NHL.

Bernier was given every chance to become the main man during his three seasons in Toronto. He was decent enough during his first season, as he set career highs with 26 wins and a .922 save percentage in 49 starts, to go along with a 2.70 goals against average.

However, the Laval, Quebec native was never able to build on his 2013-14 campaign, due in part to his inability to perform consistently. As a result, he was traded to the Anaheim Ducks with one year remaining on his contract.