 In the off-season, Burke bought-out the remaining year on Todd Bertuzzi's contract and traded Mathieu Schneider to the Atlanta Thrashers.After an extremely slow start to the 2008–09 season, on November 12, 2008, Burke resigned to take the same position for the Toronto Maple Leafs.Bob Murray replaced him as general manager, but the team struggled to make the playoffs as the eighth seed in the Western Conference.