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With the Leafs scrambling to find a new GM after Mehta went to New Jersey, the names popping up are interesting.
Mike Gillis should automatically be disqualified. For a “veteran” of the executive world, he has accomplished nothing this franchise should be seeking. He’s been out of a job for a long time and the last time he had a job, he was a loser that was unable to return to the Final. In fact, his team basically crumbled into the disaster it has become today, slowly and painfully. That’s exactly what he would do in Toronto. He’s the worst possible hire and it’s exactly why he’s probably the #1 target.
Mats Sundin is an example of a franchise that has no hope of the future to sell so they turn to sell nostalgia. Sundin might have an eye for talent but leave him as a scout in Sweden. He has no executive experience and he’s better off being associated with the Leafs in a role that has little to no power. Very good player but wrong guy for this job.
Gary Roberts’ name has also appeared. Again, great player but not built to be an executive. He’s a great personal trainer but that’s all he should be hired for.
John Chayka is a name that has been mentioned because he’s a numbers wizard. The same problem I had with Mehta as GM without a legit hockey mind above him would apply to Chayka. I would have no problem hiring him to be the most overpaid assistant GM but this guy can’t be the top of the food chain of hockey related decisions. There would need to be a legit President of Hockey Ops above him.
Chris Pronger is a legit hockey mind, proven winner on the ice with high hockey IQ but probably doesn’t understand the day to day operations of being a GM with contracts and advanced stats or scouting. Pronger is the type of guy you put as VP to Hockey Ops because you want his input but he’s not the best guy to get the day to day workings done. He’s also lightly experienced as an executive.
Ron Francis has freshly quit Seattle after a few years is an example of an experienced executive who could become President of Hockey Ops. He’s the experienced hockey mind in the room who knew what it took to win a Cup on the ice. The team he built in Carolina wasn’t too bad and his connections to guys like Rod Brind’Amour are greatly valuable in the future.
Pridham and Hardy are two guys who work well exactly where they are now. They serve a purpose but not who we need to promote at this moment with much bigger fish out there to hire.
Ross Mahoney is a name that most people don’t know about but would he be a big asset as GM. He’s been the head of scouting for the Capitals for 14 years and an assistant GM for 12 years. The Leafs absolute suck at drafting and developing players and bringing in a guy who understands the draft would be crucial. He’s about to be 70 but with so many young guys in the system, he could run the team for a few years and then the Leafs could promote from within after they’re set on the right track.
Ryan Bowness is another less known name but has been around scouting for awhile. He’s another young guy who has been with the Penguins, Senators and Islanders. Son of Rick, he’s been in hockey his entire life and his drafting record is pretty strong. He’s also been the assistant GM in Ottawa and in Long Island so you’ll have to overpay him to jump ship but he could be a future promotion from within once the Leafs scouting and player development is on track.
President of Hockey Ops: Ron Francis
– Figure head, hockey mind, talks to the media, reports to Pelley, keeps him the fuck away from the team and has a direct connection to Rod Brind’Amour for future recruitment.
VP of Hockey Ops: Chris Pronger
– Learns the ropes as an executive, brings a great hockey mind to decisions being made, knows what a winner looks like on the ice, doesn’t build a pussy ass team.
General Manager: Ross Mahoney
– Runs day to day operations from contracts to trade talks. Understands hockey from the draft outward which is the most important key to success in this rebuild.
Director of Analytics: John Chayka
– Grossly overpay this guy to take the role below GM but give him the chance to be promoted if he succeeds. Runs all the numbers on everything.
Capologist: Brandon Prindham
– Keeps the Leafs under the cap, gives him more time to prove he can be promoted.
Assistant GM / GM of the Marlies: Ryan Hardy
– Continues to run the Marlies with the addition of more prospects for player development. Given the opportunity to be promoted from within in time.
Director of Scouting: Ryan Bowness
– Attacks the draft, rebuilds the Leafs farm system, another future candidate for promotion.
Tanking Head Coach: Craig Berube.
– Tanks the team but builds accountability.
Future Real Head Coach 2029: Rod Brind’Amour.
– Takes over the team of the future and runs them like a machine.
Janitor: Mike Gillis
– Fucks off and is never hired by the Leafs.
If the Leafs were to grossly overpay this executive team (5+ million each, 30-40 million total which you can take away from the roster while you rebuild), I don’t think any one of them would refuse that type of money, regardless of their role. That to me is a team of hockey minds, executives and professionals that can turn this franchise around with a proper rebuild.
Trade Matthews and Nylander at the 2027 draft. Trade everybody else over 25 at the deadline / the draft. Tank in 2028. Tank in 2029. Offer McDavid max money in July 2029. Sign Brind’Amour as head coach.
That’s the rebuild plan.
Everything Rogers touches, turns to sh1t! Of course, any team in Toronto is sh!t because of Rogers. Even the Sportsnet broadcasts are subpar to TSN. But there they are, with another 12 year contract. What do you expect from a city that elects Socialists and a piece of….you guessed it..sh!t Mayor Olivia Chow. It’s a City run by clowns and elects clowns at every level of Government. I miss the days of the Yonge Street strip, the music stores, Leafs hockey that wasn’t owned by Rogers and a city that was clean and not full of trash who came to Canada illegally.
As much as I despise the communists who run Toronto, Ontario (Ford is a liberal wearing a conservative skin suit) and Canada, the Jays have fallen off because of idiot management. Despite catching lightning in a bottle and making record playoff profits, they refused to seriously increase spending to address the obvious needs this team had to remain a contender and actually be able to beat the final boss Dodgers in the end. Instead, they’re at the bottom of the division, just like the Leafs.
The Jays needed an elite closer. They didn’t get one. The Jays needed an starting LHP. They didn’t get one. The Jays needed to keep their best bats by either keeping Bichette or replace him. They didn’t do that either. Cease was a great signing and has been playing great and still has 0 wins in 4 starts. Why? Because as soon as he leaves the field, the team implodes. They leave batters stranded and the bullpen blows games. Gausman also has 0 wins despite playing amazing. That’s 8 elite starts with 0 wins because the supporting cast wasn’t reinforced.
Injuries have hit the starting pitching the hardest but starting pitching hasn’t been the main problem. If the Jays had reinforced the team better, their stretch of injuries would have been more manageable. Instead, the Jays are going down the path of the Leafs by unintentionally tanking through bad management after a fortunate spike in success the year prior.
Good job Hoffman, another game lost with a grand slam no less. Don’t upgrade the closer though. Nah.
Jays were 14-16 by the end of April last year. So, far, they’ve already lost 13 games with the rest of April still to play.
If this team doesn’t turn it around, the Jays are going to Leaf themselves this year pretty fast.
Playoff Predictions 1st round:
CAR vs. OTT = CAR in 6
BUF vs. BOS = BOS in 7
PIT vs. PHI = PIT in 7
TBL vs. MTL = TBL in 6COL vs. LA = COL in 5
DAL vs. MIN = MIN in 7
VGK vs. UTA = VGK in 7
EDM vs. ANA = EDM in 7OK. it’s time to put the silver stake into the heart of the 2025-26 Leafs. All of the excuses, all of the reasons, time to let it go. The Stanley Cup playoffs start today, without the Leafs. I’ll give my final synopsis on the reasons of why this team failed miserably.
The Leafs were in disarray from the start. Marner had left, the chemistry fell apart. The schedule of more home games than road games was detrimental. The top 2 lines were really 4 gifted forwards and two third liners. Matthews, Knies, Nylander and Tavares were the only top line forwards the Leafs possessed. Maccelli was a fringe forward and padded his stats in garbage time, when the team was out of playoff contention. Bobby McMann was a fringe top 6 player but also had times of inconsistencies, making him a third liner. Robertson and Roy were in the same category. Domi, was….well Domi. An enigma. The rest were 4th line fringe players that were interchangeable. Easton Cowan showed promise. The offense didn’t know if they were a rush team, or a defense first team. The Coaching was erratic and didn’t have a handle on the special teams, right from the start. The Leafs haven’t had a spiritual leader, see Tucker, Corson and Roberts, since the Pat Quinn days.
The defense was decent, for most of the year. The loss of Tanev to injury set the stage for its collapse. Rielly was again, below par and had lost a step. OEL and McCabe were very good, but not elite. Carlo was steady but had injury issues for most of the season. His offense was almost non-existent, but as a 2nd pairing defenseman, he was adequate. The rest were basically fringe NHL’ers. Stecher and Benoit are easily replaceable. With a few tweaks and some better health, the Leafs defense is playoff caliber.
The bright spot was in goal. Woll showed that he’s an above average goaltender. Stolarz was good, but again, injury prone. The two Marlies goaltenders, Hildeby and Akhtyamov showed that they were almost NHL ready. In theory, the Leafs could trade one of Stolarz or Woll and there would be little slippage in quality.
What killed the Leafs season? The GM and the coaching, plus injuries. Where are they going? They could rebound into a playoff spot, with proper management and some addition by subtraction, see Morgan Rielly. If they can get a top 5 pick in the draft, it could be a stepping stone to respectability. It’s up to the Leafs hierarchy to find a suitable President of Operations for the Maple Leafs, hire a new GM and Coach with a different philosophy. It can be done, but will Keith Pelly allow it to happen, or are the Leafs heading into another Ballard style era? Time will tell.
This team was basically the same as it was last year except they didn’t have Marner. All the major pieces were the same and they all performed worse than last year.
You can’t replace Marner with pylons like Roy, Maccelli and Joshua. It does not work. Retard logic will add their point totals together (still didn’t match Marner) and pretend like it works. But it does not work. The Leafs PP fell off a cliff to start the season with trash coaching and a lack of Marner. The Leafs lost a lot of points because of it early in the season.
Matthews is not the same player without Marner. His offensive production was embarrassingly bad and then he got hurt. Tavares is useless defensively. Nylander was inconsistent and injured. Without Marner holding them together, they were doomed from the start.
In terms of the defense, roster construction failed them again. They refused to ditch Rielly, who absolutely sucks defensively and they rely too heavily on players who are known to be injured like Tanev. Benoit has fallen off a cliff as the game dies on his stick in every way. Their goaltending has the same issue. Good goalies who miss half the season because of injuries are ultimately useless to a team looking to contend for a Cup. This franchise stupidly gave Stolarz a big extension expecting him to be something he has never been; a healthy starter. Woll falls into the same category as he is very good at times and also very injured at others.
Coaching also sucked for 5v5 play. Berube has always been an average coach. He had one year where he won the Cup with a team stacked on D and strong in net. That is the opposite of what he has to work with in Toronto. Berube should be fired unless they plan to tank. His bright idea to hire Savard as a PP coach was a disaster. But credit to Berube for having a strong PK and turning the PP around after ditching Savard. However, his 5v5 strategy absolutely sucks. It’s the opposite of Rod Brind’Amour. The Leafs take too few shots and allow too many shots against. It’s a recipe for losing hockey.
My prediction from the start of the season rang true, as it usually does:
Tampa Bay has multiple MVP level players who can easily knock out the Leafs or a tired / injured Panthers team. Hedman, Vasilevskiy and Kucherov are not finished yet. And they know how to win. The division is top heavy and dangerous. The Leafs lost an elite two-way, 100 point player and replaced him with spare parts and 3rd liners. People believing that is an improvement are coping. Stolarz and Woll are still risks to being injured / not playing. Case in point, Woll is starting the season on the sidelines. If the Leafs goaltending isn’t what it was last year (it won’t be) their D will be exposed as old, slow and ineffective, especially on the right side as the Leafs still only have TWO RHD which has been a problem for 10 years.
Mats Sundin sniffing around for an executive job with the Leafs. He has very few NHL executive qualifications. Not exactly a guy who knows what a winner looks like from the ice either considering he never won a Cup. Maybe they can find him something in the Swedish scouting department.
The Leafs need to resist the marketing PR type hires. It will make the pajama boys happy but reality is, the Leafs need to assemble a team of winners, not alumni losers. It’s the same reason why you wouldn’t hire Doug Gilmour to be a head coach. He tried it, wasn’t that great at it and hasn’t done it since. Your average idiot fan recognizes the name but it doesn’t mean he’s the best guy for the job to end the decades of embarrassment and futility.
Sunny Mehta to New Jersey.
that was quick.
They got Brodeur in an executive position above Mehta so they got a solid hockey mind paired with him. Lou is still alive so I’m sure they still have his number if they need a consult.
They might fire Keefe with guys like Cassidy available. They have two of the three Hughes brothers with the final one on a direct path to join them when he becomes a UFA.
They have all the major positions filled, a couple prospects still to make an impact on the blueline and possibly a top 10 pick to add to the mix to help make them younger.
It’s a solid scenario to take over the team. Don’t blame him at all.
Sunny Mehta to New Jersey.
Makes sense. He grew up a fan of the Devils, he worked there before and their team isn’t a total shit storm. Zero pressure.
The main issue was overpaying the 3 players.
Willie should have been signed for 5.5 – 6. Marner 8 max and matthews 9 max.
Had dubas not caved, the leafs would have had more money to build a better team.
Also thinking marner and matthews were going to lead thus team anywhere was also a mistep.
They really needed a real number 1 D as well.That was impossible the day they gave Tavares 11 AAV. The Leafs absolutely fucked themselves. Bad drafting, bad trades and bad UFA contracts destroyed whatever chance they had to have a Cup winner led by Matthews, Marner and Nylander. Being in a division with contenders such as Boston, Tampa Bay and Florida made the Leafs window of opportunity small and their margin for error razor thin. Management didn’t do what was required to make the difference.
