Leafs Add To Scouting, Analytics Departments

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The Toronto Maple Leafs made wholesale changes earlier this month, as GM John Chayka let go of Director of Amateur Scouting Mark Leach, former Scouting Director Dave Morrison, Assistant GM’s Darryl Metcalf and Hayley Wickenheiser, and a sizable chunk of the club’s analytics staff.

Earlier this month, Toronto hired former Buffalo Sabres Scouting Director Jeremiah Crowe as their Director of Player Personnel, and on Wednesday, the club announced the hiring of Dan Palango as their new Director of Amateur Scouting, Brad Rossen as Vice President, Research & Development, and JP Perpich as Director of U.S. Amateur Scouting.

Palango served under new Leafs Assistant GM Judd Brackett as a scout with the Vancouver Canucks and Minnesota Wild, while Perpich, 39, has been an amateur scout with the Wild since 2021. Rossen, 34, served as the Director of Statistical Analysis for the Arizona Coyotes for four years under Chayka, and also as an agent with CAA.

Since we are in the dog days of summer, this is normally the time when fantastical rumors that are hard to believe pop up. Online chatter over the past week mentioned the possibility of the Leafs acquiring Norris Trophy-winning defenseman Erik Karlsson. The 36-year-old is entering the final year of his contract with Pittsburgh and is slated to make $10 million next season.

Karlsson was quite effective and posted 66 points last season, but former Leafs GM Kyle Dubas knows that it is unlikely that the Penguins are going to win the Stanley Cup, so he would like to convert the aging blueliner into future assets or draft picks, something that Toronto is in short supply of. If Pittsburgh were to retain 50% of Karlsson’s salary, they would likely be looking to obtain someone like Easton Cowan or Ben Danford in a deal. That does not make any sense for Chayka, even with the mandate for the club to be competitive right away.

Would the Leafs like to ship Morgan Rielly to the Pens, with his four-year term remaining? Sure…..since they were willing to basically give him away for nothing….but Rielly only gave Chayka the go-ahead on waiving his no-movement clause to four Western clubs, and Dubas would likely want the same sweetener that those clubs wanted. Don’t hold your breath hoping to see Karlsson in Blue and White any time soon.