Brian Burke was hired Saturday as Leafs president and GM. (Chris Young/Canadian Press)

Toronto Maple Leafs president and general manager Brian Burke spoke candidly Monday to Hockey Night in Canada Radio on Sirius about how he plans to transform the team into a Stanley Cup contender, with or without the likes of Cliff Fletcher and Joe Nieuwendyk.

"I intend to give everyone a chance to demonstrate that they want to be a part of doing it my way and that they can do it my way," Burke told HNIC Radio.

Burke, 53, received the GM reins Saturday from Fletcher, who, as interim GM, hired Nieuwendyk as a special assistant to the GM on July 8.

Fletcher has been offered a different position within the organization, but it remains to be seen where Nieuwendyk or director of player personnel Al Coates will fit in.

"You can have too many voices in the room," Burke said. "But I think when you take over an organization, the people that are there, from a concept of fairness, they deserve some consideration

"I have never come in and said, 'Well, I have got my own guys, so see you guys later.' I think you lose your institutional memory that way, and you lose your reputation for fairness."

Burke bolted the Anaheim Ducks on Nov. 12 and resurfaced last week with Toronto, signing a six-year contract reportedly worth $18 million US.

He has also served as GM with the Hartford Whalers and Vancouver Canucks, but the Maple Leafs represent the ultimate challenge for Burke because they haven't reached the playoffs since the 2003-04 NHL season and haven't hoisted the Stanley Cup since 1967.

In Burke's mind, the franchise remains as beloved among hockey fans as the Dallas Cowboys in football, the New York Yankees in baseball and Manchester United in soccer.

"It deserves humility and it deserves respect for a guy going in," Burke said. "When they hand you the keys, you better take a deep gulp and say, 'This is exhilarating but it is also humbling.' "

'A fear-free environment'

Burke wants opposing teams to respect the Maple Leafs as much as he does, which is why he will retool the roster into one that is as tough as it is talented.

"If you have toughness, it is a tool in the toolbox like goaltending and like team speed," he said. "Toughness is one of the attributes that can allow you to win a game, and I think your young players develop quicker if they're in a fear-free environment."

Bring on the muckers.

"The bottom six forwards are expected to fill and perform hard-hat functions," Burke said. "The plumber's function.

"These are guys that are going to have to get their hands dirty, our fighting comes from that group, our PK [penalty killing] comes from that group, our shot blocking. That is the energy.

"The other guys, maybe they're the guys sitting on top of the float in the parade. These are the guys that keep the engine running."

'I don't know the organization well'

Burke told HNIC Radio that he won't simply grease the engine with members of the Marlies, Toronto's AHL affiliate, because he needs to get a better handle on the Maple Leafs' prospects.

"I don't know the organization well," Burke said. "There are guys who are going to play, there is some talent there.

"But it is certainly not one where I can expect, in the next two to three years, to see a significant number of players come up. That was our assessment, as a staff in Anaheim, that was our view of the Marlies."

The same rings true for the collegiate and European prospects on Toronto's reserve list.

"Our assessment in Anaheim was, 'Not a whole lot there,'" Burke said. "But we will make our own assessment now that we're here."

That said, Burke plans to spend the next five weeks familiarizing himself with Toronto's talent base and, most importantly, the team's scouting staff and the philosophy by which it operates.

"That is a huge priority in the next little bit here," Burke said.