Brian Burke announces who the Maple Leafs should trade

The Toronto Maple Leafs have already pulled a major move, signaling a shift in the direction of their organization. Following their postseason loss to the eventual Eastern Conference champion Florida Panthers, team president Brendan Shanahan made the call to not retain general manager Kyle Dubas, bringing an end to a run of the very player-friendly executive.

One well-known former Maple Leafs executive is Brian Burke, who served as the president and general manager of the team from 2008 to 2013. And you can bet that he has his own view of what additional moves that the team should make going forward.

Some of the discussion from fans and media members that whoever takes the Maple Leafs vacated GM position is what they should do with the "Core 4" of John Tavares, Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, and William Nylander. 

"I've always been candid about the 'Fab 4' and the contracts they received," Burke said. "I spoke up as it was happening, questioning the sequence and the substantial sums they were offered. I scrutinized the no-trade clauses and the term lengths - I didn't shy away from any of it."

"It's easy to say 'I told you so' when things don't pan out. But I didn't just join the chorus, I spoke up when it mattered. "There are real concerns about the future of the team and the steps they'll take next. The job is no picnic, but it's doable."

So, who in Burke's mind should the Leafs part ways with?

"The team has two major decisions to make. One is deciding what to do with Mitch Marner, and the other is seeing if Auston Matthews is willing to re-sign with Toronto."

"If Matthews decides to stay, my suggestion would be to consider trading Nylander first from that group. Tavares is a great player and an exceptional individual. I don't see him leaving, he's committed to the team and consistently performs well."

Nylander has one more season remaining on his contract that carries an annual average value of $6,962,366. In 521 career NHL games, all with the Leafs, he's scored 177 goals (including a career high 40 this season) and 253 assists for 430 career points.