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The Toronto Maple Leafs have begun their search for a new General Manager and possibly a President of Hockey Operations after the dismissal of GM Brad Treliving earlier this week. The press conference of MLSE boss Keith Pelley was far from perfect, including mispronouncing the name of Toronto Marlies defenseman Vincent Borgesi, and feeling insulted by the assertion that the club should tank the final seven games of the regular season to improve their chances at keeping their 2025 first round pick, but the main thing to take from it was that he did not offer many details and kept his options open as to what direction the franchise will go.
The most definitive information he provided was the belief that the Leafs immediate future was that the plan was not to do a rebuild, but to do more of a retool since the club has foundation pieces in place. The debate continues to be whether Toronto’s foundation is crumbling and still wants to be part of the solution under a new administration. Part of that answer came from Leafs winger William Nylander, who indicated to The Athletic that he wants to stay in Toronto if the club’s committed to chasing a Stanley Cup and not tearing it down.
“Unless it was a full rebuild and we were going to get rid of everybody, then it’s a different story. Then you take that conversation then,” Nylander said. “But just to do a retool or whatever, I don’t even know, but I mean, I still want to be here.”
That stance is very similar to what has been reported about Auston Matthews, but it is unknown whether that sentiment has changed. Both Matthews and Nylander have been part of nine straight playoff appearances, so it would seem illogical for them to want out after one disastrous season, but the question is whether Pelley can find a management team that can dig the club out of the hole that Kyle Dubas and Treliving put them in, whether it be in free agency or by making trades.
At this point, there has been a blizzard of names floated as potential candidates. For a possible President of Hockey Operations, the likes of St. Louis GM Doug Armstrong, former Vancouver GM Mike Gillis, and Hall of Fame defenseman Chris Pronger have been mentioned, but Pelley’s stressing the need for a data-centric manager has led to a wide net of potential GM candidates, from Florida Panthers analytics head Sunny Mehta, to former Arizona GM John Chayka. It is unlikely that Toronto will go the way of a purely data-centric manager, but more of an experienced executive who uses and embraces data.
This is likely a reaction to the Leafs having one of the largest analytics teams out there and that data not being used by Treliving to his benefit, which we have seen with some of the questionable roster decisions made during his nearly three-year stint with Toronto.
The question that was avoided by Pelley was the status of head coach Craig Berube, other than to say he is the head coach and that his future will be determined by the next head coach. Hopefully, this is code for Berube being dead man walking, because his handling of the roster, and some of the lineup decisions made as bench boss have made a significant contribution to the club’s downfall. It is hard to imagine that a new manager would not want to choose his own coach, which means that he will be dismissed at the end of the season, if a new GM is in place.
The Leafs face the San Jose Sharks on Thursday. Toronto currently is ninth from the bottom in the NHL standings with 77 points, but are just three points out of a top-five draft slot with all the teams immediately below them possessing games in hand.
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Tagged: nhl, Toronto Maple Leafs