The post-lockout team only started winning once his UFAs got hurt and they brought up the kids in their system (some eye for talent).

Almost every UFA he signed is no longer in the NHL.

Right after the lock-out, the Leafs were the only team not to buy-out a player. Their large salary commitments handcuffed the club. The largest pool of UFAs in the history of the NHL and JFJ completely mis-read it. He signed a bunch of one-year deals thinking all the big UFAs would be available the following summer. All of them signed long-term deals leaving JFJ and the Leafs in the lurch.

None of this had anything to do with previous administrations. And for the record, JFJ traded more picks than Quinn.

The post-lockout team only started winning once his UFAs got hurt and they brought up the kids in their system (some eye for talent).

Almost every UFA he signed is no longer in the NHL.

Right after the lock-out, the Leafs were the only team not to buy-out a player. Their large salary commitments handcuffed the club. The largest pool of UFAs in the history of the NHL and JFJ completely mis-read it. He signed a bunch of one-year deals thinking all the big UFAs would be available the following summer. Then Thornton, Iginla, and all the others signed long-term deals leaving JFJ and the Leafs in the lurch.

Logan – None of this had anything to do with previous administrations. And for the record, JFJ traded more picks than Quinn.

He didn’t have anything to work with. Pat Quinn was the original guy who mortgaged the future by trading away pick after pick along with prospect after prospect. The cupboard was completely bare, and I feel that JFJ had nothing to do with what he had. In all seriousness, what the hell would you do with Mikael Renberg and Robert Reichel? Pat Quinn signed every guy that was on the downward slide in their career, and JFJ had to feel the brunt of that.

Of course JFJ is to blame for the bad contracts that he signed over the course of his tenure in Toronto…

That said, while all the NTCs he gave out were brutal, it wouldn’t have been completely unreasonable for him to think that those guys could still be moved if things went bad. After all, guys waive their NTCs all the time, as long as they’re going to a better team/situation.

JFJ may have figured that he was giving up some control, but that if things went to hell the NTC guys would be willing to move.

Or maybe he just knew that if that happened, it wouldn’t be his problem to deal with anymore.