Brian Burke Comments On Contract Negotiations With Nikolai Kulemin

Sunday on Toronto radio station AM 640, Brian Burke discussed news on contract talks with Nikolai Kulemin, and how things have stalled.

Burke stated that the talks have hit a standstill and that he believes that the Kulemin and his agent are overvaluing the services of the Russian winger who scored 16 goals along with 20 assists in 78 games last season with the Maple Leafs.

"We haven't exchanged proposals in a couple of weeks now," Burke admitted to AM 640.

"While they can say: ‘he was on your first line last year,' there is no one who would say Nikolai Kulemin is a first line left winger. He's a first line left winger by default because we did not have a very good team. I'm not paying for someone who gets the position by default."

Burke commented on a wide range of subjects during the interview, including a rumour that defenceman Dion Phaneuf would be named the Maple Leafs' captain at a press conference on June 17th.

"First off, that's a coaching decision, not a general manager's decision," Burke told AM 640. "If that's the way that Ron Wilson decides to go, I would support that obviously. I will not deny that is going to happen, but I'm certainly not going to confirm it either."

<< Back