There has been some criticism of the process being implemented in the GM search by the Toronto Maple Leafs that they have not tried to get the best executives in the league for the job. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman expanded on a report earlier in the week by James Mirtle, Jonas Siegel, and Chris Johnston of The Athletic that the Leafs had approached someone currently with an NHL club about the job and had been turned down for permission to speak with him. According to Friedman, that unnamed executive was Tampa Bay Lightning GM, Julien Brisebois.
The hiring of a new boss of hockey operations was always going to be a challenge, since nearly all of the prime candidates (such as Bill Zito, Jim Nill, Jeff Gorton) were under contract and their clubs were undoubtedly going to deny the Leafs permission to speak to them. St. Louis GM Doug Armstrong was transitioning to a new position with the Blues, as an overseer to new GM Alex Steen, but there are reports that Toronto did not ask permission to speak to him, as they had been rebuffed three years ago after the firing of Kyle Dubas.
Friedman reiterated that the Leafs are in the process of bringing in former Leaf Mats Sundin and former Arizona GM John Chayka, but on Friday, he was carefully ambiguous as to what Sundin’s role, title, and involvement would be. He said that MLSE is negotiating a contract with him, and “to what they have planned for him.” The indications are that things are progressing in the right direction, but as of Thursday, nothing is etched in stone.
There has been a great deal of skepticism expressed about Chakya as a potential hire, from his history with Arizona, to his suspension from the league and the penalties incurred by the Coyotes for going outside of the NHL’s rules regarding testing of players for the draft, but some of that has been written off as the ignorance of youth being hired in his 20’s, something that a poorly run organization like Arizona was ill-advised to do. The hope is that after four years as GM and six years in private business, the 36-year-old is more ready for the challenge of handling the Leafs.
Another reason for skepticism is the hint of involvement of former Leafs enforcer Tie Domi in the process. Domi is a close friend of Sundin going back to their playing days, and has connections with Chayka through his son Max, going back to his days with the OHL’s London Knights and his first two years with the Coyotes, before he was dealt to Montreal in 2018.
There are indications that he has been serving as a conduit to putting the two parties together. That may be overstated or slightly inaccurate, but it further calls into question the process being used by MLSE boss Keith Pelley. For all the criticism of Pelley’s hiring of Neil Glasberg’s search firm for management candidates, neither Sundin nor Chayka came as recommendations from them.
Dallas Assistant GM Scott White is still in the mix, reportedly, but as with the Leafs are not expected to make any announcement before next week, and the NHL normally prefers any news to not take away from league events, such as the playoffs or the Draft Lottery, which will take place next Tuesday.
The Toronto Marlies are hoping to draw even with the Laval Rocket on Friday after losing Game 1 of their best-of-five Calder Cup second round series on Wednesday. Cedric Pare scored the lone goal for Toronto in the 3-1 loss and Dennis Hildeby made 23 saves. Former Leaf Sammy Blais scored the empty-netter for Laval.
