Confirmed with Link: Wes Clark leaves the Leafs for promotion with the Penguins

[Captain34]

This was expected. Won't be the first or the last Dubas staffer to leave. I expect other scouts who reported to Wes to follow him. The important question is - who comes to replace West - who by all means was a successful scout and led our amateur scouting department quite well.

 

[notbias]

Good for Wes to double his salary .. Leafs are better off without Wes .. he tends to like da Dubie types so he will find more common ground with Pens .. we need to draft more Tre and Berube types going forward .. big fast and mean dudes for playoff hockey success

Exactly... Dubas hates those types of players.

Maybe we can pick up more guys that are Treliving types, like another Knies maybe?

 

[Warden of the North]

I get the Treliving thing cause he was already employed by his new team. That comparison would work if Clark joined the Penguins prior to the draft and the ruling was that he couldn't support the Penguins draft.

It works now. The Leafs probably told him they would release him from his contract after the draft.

Put it this way: how happy would you be if they did this just before the draft? Why would the Leafs let him go at that point?

 

[francis246]

This was expected. Won't be the first or the last Dubas staffer to leave. I expect other scouts who reported to Wes to follow him. The important question is - who comes to replace West - who by all means was a successful scout and led our amateur scouting department quite well.

Maybe Mike Futa.

 

[Punch Drunk Loov]

Maybe Wes was one of the employees "in mourning" when Dubas was fired

 

[uncleben]

Hard to blame him for leaving after Dubas scorched Earth of Leafs future draft picks before he left.

Before BT traded back 2 X from his 1st in 2024 to obtain a 2nd round pick in 2025 (for next year for Florida) the Leafs would have had ZERO picks in the 1st X 4 rounds and have already traded 2nd and 4th in 2026.

View attachment 893622

Leafs have 3 picks in the top 120 for the next 2 draft classes. You want to spend 1000s of hours on the road sitting in cold arena's WITH NO DRAFT PICKS.

If you're the head of scouting and you have no draft picks then what is the use of scouting ???

If it wasn't the Pens it was only a matter of time before he left based on how much damage has been done to Leafs draft picks.

Tough position fill for the next guy with so little opportunity to make their scouting mark.

I'm sure Wes being so distraught with how Dubas left the Leafs' draft selections is exactly what drove him straight into the arms of... Kyle Dubas.

Exactly... Dubas hates those types of players.

Maybe we can pick up more guys that are Treliving types, like another Knies maybe?

Ah, yeah
We really need to stay away from Dubas-type picks. What we really need is another player like... [one of Kyle Dubas' best draft picks]




Honestly, the Dubas hate is pretty funny at this point

 

[Marlow88]

Maybe. Dubas and Pridham were very close though, similar to Spezza and Clark. It's not like Pridham can just move for a promotion -- he's already an assistant GM, the only step up is be a GM or VP/P of a department really. We'll see.

I think Dubas does not know how to work a spreadsheet, that is why he traded for Karlson last year without realizing how bad the Penguins are going to be screwed at the back end of that contract. At least if Pridham was there, he would have reminded him about the numbers.

All the best to Wes Clark. He seemed to be competent at his job and he gets a raise. We can already predict who he is going to draft next year... an OHL player who is a late riser.

We just have to hope that Trevling will hire a good scout to replace him.

 

[Peasy]

Source?

https://x.com/i/web/status/1810705718229569978

Is this tweet from Wes himself right after the news broke enough of a source for you?

 

[DraftSchmaft]

Nepotism hire. *Yawn*. It's literally a "that's my homeboy" situation.

His resume isn't anything we can't replace and improve upon.

 

[Leafidelity]

Maybe he wanted to draft some players next year?

The Leafs only have the Panthers 2nd in 2025, Blackhawks 5th, and their own 6th and 7th round picks

 

[GoonieFace]

It’s a Dubas hire, I’m Shocked that certain posters are in tears about this.

 

[Maple Leaf]

It’s a Dubas hire, I’m Shocked that certain posters are in tears about this.

Dubas sucks so Wes therefore also sucks

 

[usernamezrhardtodo]

Was never impressed with this guy. Yeah he's made a couple of picks (Knies and Cowan) but IMO he has his head in the same clouds as Dubas. This year's reach is Danford. He probably could have moved down again and got him. I won't miss him.

He can go and pick Dubas' favorite sized players 5'9" to 5'11" and 170 to 180lbs. He was picking bigger guys for us recently because Tre wanted them...Dubas wants what he wants and will get plenty of those guys in the draft....their not big enough to win board battles and not "Tyler Ennis" enough to be fast and slippery with skill off the charts...the Meh of hockey players size is Dubas' favorite...the ones nobody else wants.

 

[htpwn]

The SN article credits him with the Knies pick, but Clark became Director of Amateur Scouting in August 2021, two months after Knies was drafted. He may well have had a hand in the selection but John Lilley was in charge then.

Clark's drafts were 2022-2024 and to his credit, they look strong given the paucity of picks he had to work with: Grebyonkin and Hildeby in 2022, Cowan and Chadwick in 2023, and jury's still out on 2024.

Sucks to lose him, and the timing (a week after the draft) feels slimy, but too early yet to argue that he's an irreplaceable guru. What concerns me more than his departure is (A) whether others will follow him out the door; and (B) who Treliving might bring in as replacements. In other words, we seem to have had a decent thing going with our scouting staff, and hopefully the Leafs don't manage to screw that up.

 

[Apex Predator]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1810705718229569978

Is this tweet from Wes himself right after the news broke enough of a source for you?

This is cringy!

 

[usernamezrhardtodo]

This news makes me doubt the Danford pick. After the Cowan pick turned out the way it did I was done doubting Wes. Danford was just as much a reach as Cowan but I was fine with it. Knowing that this move was probably in the works during the draft makes me question how invested he was in the draft result.

I like Danford, I hope he works out. I just feel less confident today than I did a week ago.

There is literally no chance that Dubas would allow Wes Clark to take Danford. He doesn't fit the mold of what Dubas wanted...not skilled enough to have high point totals and knows how to play defense....

 

[rocketman588]

Seemed like he got a lot of Autonomy under Brad but whatever, and possibly made more scouting based picks then the market deficiency bullshit Dubas was trying but whatever. If he wants to join his boy to be in a sinking ship that's on him. Thanks for the last two years of firsts.

Also Dubas loves him some titles. Wonder if he'll have like 18 AGMs there also

 

[Al14]

They are all failures. Fire the whole lot.

The only management I want to see are Berube and BT and the people they brought in.

Well, Treliving hasn't exactly done that great either. Who knows if Berube will get anymore out of the core 5, especially Marner in the playoffs.

IMHO, Shanahan should have been fired the moment Pelley showed up. He's been a complete failure, unless the goal was making our Leafs regular season heroes and playoff zeroes, then mission accomplished !!!

 

[darrylsittler27]

No, I couldn't. He wasted the perfect build from Lou stacked with prospects and extra picks. You factor in all his own rentals and the stupid belief small and skilled, soft and overpaid wins cups or that he even thought this team was close, it's unbelievable. We also have no picks next year and no 2nd or 4th in 2026. The damage he has done is not fixable. He had no foresight or just didn't care.

You could just as easily argue it was mistake to let him go

 

[NMacrules]

Ok, ok. I'll do it.

 

[Rob Brown]

It works now. The Leafs probably told him they would release him from his contract after the draft.

Put it this way: how happy would you be if they did this just before the draft? Why would the Leafs let him go at that point?

I think it's weird either way, to be honest.

 

[RoadWarrior]

Good for Wes to double his salary .. Leafs are better off without Wes .. he tends to like da Dubie types so he will find more common ground with Pens .. we need to draft more Tre and Berube types going forward .. big fast and mean dudes for playoff hockey success

Not sure Cowan is a “Dubie type”.

I assume you think “Tre types” are all 6’7 and have zero offense.

How about we replace Wes with somebody who can identify BPA…

 

[Shooter2x]

Lou Lam still the no.1 scout we ever had for that Matthews guy find. Clark is nothing but a spec of dust.

 

[BertCorbeau]

A whole lot of hate for a guy who’s body of work is still remain to be seen in term do how those picks develop.

Incredible the hate he gets for merely being associated for Dubas. Could swear Dubas impregnated most of your daughters with the vitriol that’s been thrown out there.

 

[francis246]

Nepotism hire. *Yawn*. It's literally a "that's my homeboy" situation.

His resume isn't anything we can't replace and improve upon.

why are we acting like the NHL isn't full of Nepotism? That's literally how this league works. Derek King was a Treliving guy, we brought him over here. We poached Marc Savard from Calgary, we stole Shane Doan from Arizona. There's coutless other ones.

Brad Treliving resigned from Calgary to take a job here. Kyle isn't the first to bring over his guys. This happens all over the NHL every year.

It works now. The Leafs probably told him they would release him from his contract after the draft.

Put it this way: how happy would you be if they did this just before the draft? Why would the Leafs let him go at that point?

well honestly I don't know why people are making a big stink. Even if the Leafs were unwilling to let Wes go, he could just resign and be free to sign wherever he wants after resigning.