NEW YORK -- Regardless of what you think of the job Brian Burke did during his tenure as the general manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs, there's no denying his body of work. He has won a Stanley Cup. He took a risk in building Team USA around youth for the 2010 Winter Olympics and it paid off with a silver medal for an American team that pushed the host Canadians to overtime in the gold-medal game.
If he chooses, there will be work waiting for Burke following his stunning ouster in Toronto. He's too well-respected an executive to fade away into a senior adviser role.
So what's the logical next step for Burke? Here are some options:
To read more from Craig Custance and get access to all of Insider's NHL content, sign up today.
- Senior NHL writer for ESPN The Magazine
- Wrote for Atlanta Journal-Constitution
- Wrote for The Sporting News
ABOUT THIS BLOG
Craig Custance
Craig Custance joined ESPN in September 2011 as an NHL reporter for ESPN the Magazine, ESPN Insider and ESPN.com. A graduate of Michigan State University, he lived for nearly a decade in Georgia working for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution where he spent time covering the late Atlanta Thrashers. He was the only Thrashers beat writer to get the team to the playoffs.
From 2008-11 he was the national hockey writer for the Sporting News, writing regularly in print and online. A member of the PHWA, he's a proud voter for the major NHL awards and can occasionally defend his selections.
Like hockey, he left Atlanta to return north where he currently lives in Grosse Pointe, Michigan, with his wife Cassie and their three kids.
Follow Craig on Twitter: @CraigCustance
And fire off a few probing questions for his weekly mailbag while you're at it.
