Brian Burke and his management team have done some good work of late, and let’s be clear, the signing of Connolly and the trade with Nashville was very much the work of Burke’s right-hand man, Dave Nonis, and evidence that Nonis should probably be running someone’s NHL team right now.

As it stands, he’s content in Toronto, which means Burke can visit the troops in Afghanistan and stay in touch with North America, knowing Nonis has all the powers of a GM. Including Aulie in the Phaneuf deal two seasons ago was Nonis’s idea, just as it’s been his strong conviction that the youthful Leafs needed to find ways to add more youth rather than find short-term ways out of the lower realms of the Eastern Conference.

So instead of adding bodies, the Leafs jettisoned Francois Beauchemin, Tomas Kaberle and Kris Versteeg last winter, bringing in prospects Joe Colborne and Gardiner, plus draft picks.

That’s largely Nonis’s influence, and why he and the tempestuous Burke make such a good team.