Wickenheiser Gone, Marlies Add Depth

This story is powered by Betalytics — the intelligent platform for sports betting — and by Rude Hockey apparel.

This afternoon's recommended play. Thirty minutes to game time.

Sign up at https://t.co/rvhCW3V9Jd to start your 5-day free trial. Use Promo Code: HHS to receive a 25% discount on the best predictive sports data available. https://t.co/hIt50qDmBu
— HockeyHotStove (@HockeyHStove) July 2, 2026

The Toronto Maple Leafs, took care of all family business (to use a line from the Godfather) on Wednesday, dismissing Director of Amateur Scouting Mark Leach, former Scouting Director Dave Morrison, Assistant GM Darryl Metcalf, and a sizable chunk of the club’s analytics staff has been let go. Later in the day, it was revealed that another assistant GM, Hayley Wickenheiser, was let go.

Wickenheiser had been with the Leafs since 2018 and served in a player development role, but in an Instagram post indicated that her and GM John Chayka had discussions about what role she would serve in going forward.

“My expectation was that I would be in a position to continue to have a significant impact within the organization. However, it became clear that his leadership group envisioned a different path.” Wickenheiser said. “Since joining the club in 2018, I have been immensely proud of the work our player development team has accomplished. I want to sincerely thank the incredibly talented individuals, coaches, management, and players whom I have been fortunate enough to work alongside over the last eight years.”

With the moves, Chayka has dispatched four of the five assistant GM’s serving under GM Brad Treliving (Brandon Pridham, Derek Clancey, Metcalf, and Wickenheiser), with Ryan Hardy the lone survivor. The club added Judd Brackett as an Assistant GM in charge of player evaluation and Freddie Hamilton in a new position of Chief of Staff.

Marlies Add Seven On AHL Deals

Following the hiring of former Marlies and Leafs assistant Steve Sullivan as head coach, former Leaf Mark Giordano as assistant coach, and the signings of Jacob Quillan, Ryan Tverberg and William Villeneuve to new contracts, the Marlies announced the signing of seven players to AHL contracts.

The club re-signed veteran goalie Ken Appleby and forward Sam Stevens to one-year AHL contracts, and signed forwards Matt Copponi, Ross Mitton, defensemen Matt Anderson and Ben Meehan to one-year AHL contracts, and forward Sawyer Boulton to a two-year AHL contract. Most of these players are expected to be on the roster for ECHL Cincinnati. Boulton, 21, was a teammate of Leafs winger Easton Cowan and Marlies winger Landon Sim with the London Knights in 2024, and is the son of former NHLer Eric Boulton.