Maple Leafs GM Brian Burke was busy getting at least one deal done over the weekend, but his talks with Vancouver in trying to land goalie Roberto Luongo aren’t going quite so well.
James Mirtle of The Globe And Mail reports Burke isn’t too pleased with what the asking price is for the 33-year-old goalie and as a result feels like he can go with what he’s got in net already.
“From my perspective, the prices that are being asked have to be reasonable,” Burke said. “If you can get a goaltender who makes you better, and it costs you 15 first-round picks, would you do it? No.
“So somewhere between 15 first-round picks and something that makes sense, we’re not there yet. I’m not going to overpay to upgrade at that position. I’m not happy with what’s being asked. From my perspective, rather than strip your organization to fill one positional need, we’ll go with what we have.”
Canucks GM Mike Gillis has made it clear he’s not going to just give away Luongo, but he’s in a rough spot because Luongo’s essentially said he wants out. Burke says he’s cool with going with a tandem James Reimer and Ben Scrivens but that won’t do much to soothe Leafs fans in their hope of returning to the playoffs.
Burke will use the Leafs’ wealth of forwards to appease the Canucks eventually, just don’t expect it to happen right away.