For the starter spot I agree completely, the few times he had the starting C spot was because his GS was 2 level higher than Cockayne/Sutter. but as a backup to play 10min and grab rebounds and defend he's quite effective, especially when we have players around him that can score. What is appealing with him is his "atypic" profile, compared to Avila that has a more "logical" skillset.
With Burimenko at the PF spot we already have the best big in Canada, that can score and defend, we don't need a second one with similar skills at the C spot, against C with monstruous RB and defense, we need one that can take rebounds and defend against these 200k bigs, 17 Rb and ID is a bit short for that when the opponent has 19-20 IS/ID/Rb.
Obviously I would prefer to have 2 Burimenko on the team, but that's not the case. Avila will be the starting PF of the NT in 2-3 seasons, and he'll need to have players like Cockayne and Beauchemin at his side to be the offensive leader of the team