Been there, heard that

Look, I know Brian Burke is a man of action. He's always working to make his teams better. But now, more than ever, BB's bite must out-weigh his bark. After listening/watching his "state of the team" address I came away feeling, well not exactly encouraged. I wasn't discouraged either. I felt exhausted, like it was all too familiar, like I'd heard it all before (God help us if Burke's rhetoric becomes as empty and predictable as the post-lockout Leafs). God help him too. He'll last his contract, but barely. Anyway, he talks quite the game. The same game.

C'mon

We know he'd do the Kessel deal again. We know Kadri's not a shoe-in. We know he builds from the net out. We know his teams are supposed to be skilled and pugnacious. We know. We know. We know. We do. Is there anything else?

Candor

It's what we're not aware of, the stuff behind the scenes, that has me hopeful. If Burke's offering of the "truth" masks the real potential of his summer plan, then we're in for a treat. If Wednesday's pow wow with the media was simply his attempt at pure transparency, well I guess it was nice of him to give us the heads up.

Covert

That Dion Phaneuf deal, anyone sense it coming? And the Blake for Giguere move? Yeah, another stunner escorted through the back door. Those were beauts. The kind we love. The kind we want and need more of. BB can talk 'til his face turns blue (or ours do first). If the stuff he isn't telling us is more interesting, even promising than the "official" update, then we'll just grin and bare it. Thing is, don't forget to brace. While we're being told one thing, something different, completely franchise changing, could be going down.

The latest with Nazem Kadri on Friday.