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There will be no special meetings of the Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment board, but Richard Peddie will seek - and certainly get - permission early this week to open negotiations with Brian Burke for the job of running the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Peddie, the MLSE president, will canvas the board of directors by telephone or e-mail as soon as Monday for the necessary clearance. Burke is officially a free agent, as the proper paperwork after his resignation as the general manager of the Anaheim Ducks was filed with the NHL.

At this point, it appears the wooing of Burke as the president and/or GM of the Leafs will come under the direction of Peddie and Toronto lawyer Gord Kirke, who made up the search committee for a new GM.

So far, the only contact between the parties was an assurance from Burke's Vancouver-based lawyer, Peter Gall, to the Leafs that all the paperwork freeing Burke has been filed with the league.

Burke will spend most of this week in Vancouver after cancelling a hunting trip, which set off a lot of talk over the weekend that he planned to meet with Peddie. But Peddie flew back to Toronto Sunday from Vancouver with the Maple Leafs after their recent trip.

“I was going to go hunting in Texas this week, but my wife, Jennifer, has got some [broadcasting] work in Vancouver, so I decided to go with her,” Burke said Sunday. “I had some [personal] business to take care of there, so I figured I'd do it.”

The couple plan to return to Anaheim by Friday, although that could change if negotiations go quickly.

At this point, there is no reason to think it won't. Burke wants complete autonomy running the Leafs, and Peddie and company appear willing to give it to him.

Peddie said recently he learned from his NBA adventures with Bryan Colangelo that if you hire the right person and give the power he or she needs, good things will happen. Colangelo was hired as the president of the MLSE-owned Toronto Raptors in January of 2006 and quickly turned the Raptors into a playoff team.

Both Peddie and MLSE chairman Larry Tanenbaum have said they want a hockey equivalent of Colangelo, and Burke fits the bill. However, combative Burke might be inclined to say Colangelo is basketball's Brian Burke.

At this point, it does not look as if the Leafs will get much competition from other NHL clubs for Burke's services.

The Boston Bruins issued a statement last week saying they are happy with GM Peter Chiarelli and their senior management team and have no plans to chase Burke, who has four children from his previous marriage living in the Boston area.

There have been suggestions the New York Rangers might be interested, but nothing concrete has happened so far.

Burke and the Leafs are also not likely to clash over his potential title or retaining the club's current hockey management team. Burke has let it be known he does not need the title of president right away and would have no plans to move in and start clearing out the existing management.

There would definitely be a change in the makeup of the on-ice team, as Burke has long preferred fast, physical teams well-stocked with North American-born players.

The Leafs are currently a fast team, but not particularly physical – although the salary cap and existing contracts might prevent Burke from making wholesale changes should he land the corner office at the Air Canada Centre.