Who would you like as the next GM?

[SprDaVE]

He was hired in 2014 but I wasn't sure if I should give him a ton of credit on the 2014 draft but 2015-2020 drafts, not bad at all.

2021 seems too early to look at although strong start.

Trades he seems okay to good.

His goal was to remain competitive after Tkachuk wanted out and Gaudreau walked on him. He signed Kadri and traded for Huberdeau (110 pt season) and a top pairing or at worst, top 4 right shot D in Weegar.

He's not a bad GM at all. He seems like he addresses anything that his team needs but I wouldn't say he's my top choice either.

I would say 2015 and 2016 the Flames had the best drafts out of anyone in the league. In comparison, the Leafs came out of those drafts with Marner, Dermott, Matthews, Grundstrom (players with over 100 NHL games) and then Woll. The Flames? Andersson, Kylington, Mangiapane, Tkachuk, Fox and Dube.

 

[thewave]

Stan Bowman as GM
Joel Quennville as Head Coach

We need some experience and proven success

That works too

 

[WTFMAN99]

I would say 2015 and 2016 the Flames had the best drafts out of anyone in the league. In comparison, the Leafs came out of those drafts with Marner, Dermott, Matthews and Grundstrom (players with over 100 NHL games). The Flames? Andersson, Kylington, Mangiapane, Tkachuk, Fox and Dube.

Yeah, he's not bad.

As for Armstrong, he won that cup but made a series of crazy decisions to me.

Acquiring a right handed Faulk when Pietrangelo was not re-signed and also having Parayko around made zero sense to me.

I'd rather Pietrangelo-Parayko than Parayko-Faulk all day.

 

[Notsince67]

Sucks that we will likely end up with some retread GM that wore out his welcome with 4 other teams first.

Shown to be a hatchet man. The blow the team up crowd should be happy after the Leafs don't make the playoffs because they got their pound of flesh.

 

[WildcatMapleLeafs28]

McPhee GM
Gallant as HC

 

[daveleaf]

What do you think there is a lot of with chemistry / physics? Data.

Again, the guy went to Harvard lol.

Couldn't care less where he went to school. Going to Harvard means success in managing an NHL team? Sam Pollock was a Harvard grad? Bill Torey?

Hockey guys know Hockey,

Probably someone in that Detroit system that Shanahan keeps an eye on.

If you take what he said, he has been thinking of this extensively for over a week and I'm sure has talked to Yzerman and other close friends on availability of people.

 

[WTFMAN99]

Couldn't care less where he went to school. Going to Harvard means success in managing an NHL team? Sam Pollock was a Harvard grad? Bill Torey?

Hockey guys know Hockey,

Probably someone in that Detroit system that Shanahan keeps an eye on.

If you take what he said, he has been thinking of this extensively for over a week and I'm sure has talked to Yzerman and other close friends on availability of people.

Chia knows hockey, he won a cup and fleeced us for Seguin. You want that "hockey guy" running things?

 

[Notsince67]

Treliving would be a travasy. A nonis 2.0.

-got fleeced in the Tkachuk trade
-lost Gaudreau and Brodie for nothing
- signed Markstrom to a terrible deal
- left a team that's absolutely floating in no man's land and has been for a while.

Kept a toxic coach who lost the room

 

[SprDaVE]

Yeah, he's not bad.

As for Armstrong, he won that cup but made a series of crazy decisions to me.

Acquiring a right handed Faulk when Pietrangelo was not re-signed and also having Parayko around made zero sense to me.

I'd rather Pietrangelo-Parayko than Parayko-Faulk all day.

Yep. That whole Pietrangelo fiasco was bizarre and since then it's been a lot of bad decisions. Faulk puts up points but he's awful defensively... that was a weird one. Krug was always kinda overrated and really never took off for them. Parayko regressed as well. His goaltending has been his biggest issue over the years but when he finally got great goaltending, they won the cup.

Armstrong does a lot of good trades and his drafting always seem to be at the very least consistently good but he's not perfect.

 

[LeafalCrusader]

Futa
Darche
Tulsky
Mellanby
Pirdham promotion

Would be my preference

 

[hockeywiz542]

Mirtle: With Kyle Dubas gone, prepare for more Maple Leafs front-office fallout

The Maple Leafs' parting ways with Kyle Dubas is likely the beginning of front-office upheaval with the team.

theathletic.com

Only those who were in the boardroom know for sure, but one of the things that is believed to have been discussed during Dubas’ first meeting about his contractual status with Shanahan and ownership last Sunday was coach Sheldon Keefe’s future.

It’s likely Dubas was told then that Keefe would (or should) be a casualty during an offseason that all involved agreed required significant change.

There is also a view in the organization that players have become too comfortable, which will likely feed into whatever organizational decisions are made this summer. Part of what was at issue with the board was whether Dubas was prepared to make those hard decisions, such as firing a coach he was very close with and trading players he had backed ever since they entered the league up to seven seasons ago.

Was that part of what went into Dubas going off script on Monday? Perhaps. He declined to comment when contacted by The Athletic on Friday, but others in the organization believe whatever happened Sunday weighed heavily on him, especially in the emotional 48 hours after another early postseason elimination.

The dysfunctional negotiations that unfolded the next three days after that point ultimately led to Shanahan’s decision to move on.

“I just felt differently. And I felt that the long-term future of the Maple Leafs might have to change,” Shanahan said on Friday afternoon.

With Dubas now gone, Keefe will almost certainly be let go once a new GM is put into place, despite having a year remaining on his contract.

It’s also considered highly unlikely that capologist Brandon Pridham will get the GM job, given it’s vastly different than his experience and current responsibilities.

Even if Pridham stays in a complementary role, however, many of Dubas’ other lieutenants would seem to be at risk. Assistant GMs Ryan Hardy, Darryl Metcalf and Hayley Wickenheiser were all close to Dubas and relatively short on front-office experience when promoted into their roles as part of an unorthodox front-office setup that had so many AGMs in different roles.

A new GM is likely to opt for a more traditional structure — and to bring in several of their own people.

In terms of who that GM might be, the frontrunner appears to be former Flames GM Brad Treliving, who has been in rumors behind the scenes going back to at least March. But I’m also hearing candidates could come in the form of current GMs or team presidents with other teams who have out clauses in their deals and who may be interested in the high-profile (and high-paying) role in Toronto.

Someone like Blues GM Doug Armstrong, who has plenty of experience and has won a Stanley Cup, could plausibly be an option, if he’s contractually able to leave St. Louis in the short window Shanahan has to make this hire.

However the GM search plays out, the Leafs are expected to hire someone who has NHL experience in the role. And it’s expected Shanahan will seek guidance from NHL commissioner Gary Bettman and the league office before making the hire, as many teams in this situation do.

 

[WTFMAN99]

Yep. That whole Pietrangelo fiasco was bizarre and since then it's been a lot of bad decisions. Faulk puts up points but he's awful defensively... that was a weird one. Krug was always kinda overrated and really never took off for them. Parayko regressed as well. His goaltending has been his biggest issue over the years but when he finally got great goaltending, they won the cup.

Armstrong does a lot of good trades and his drafting always seem to be at the very least consistently good but he's not perfect.

Gorton would be a strong candidate for me, amazing at trades...good at drafting but some big misses in the draft too.

Not sure he's available...there is no perfect candidate.

 

[Notsince67]

McDavid 7yrs x 13m
Matthews 8 yrs x 12.7m
Marner 8yrs x 9m
Nylander 8yrs x 8m

Have to trade them if they don't want to take deals. We need to win not have players hold the cap hostage anymore.

Don't have mcdavid. You are off the list now

 

[LeafalCrusader]

Mirtle: With Kyle Dubas gone, prepare for more Maple Leafs front-office fallout

The Maple Leafs' parting ways with Kyle Dubas is likely the beginning of front-office upheaval with the team.

theathletic.com

However the GM search plays out, the Leafs are expected to hire someone who has NHL experience in the role. And it’s expected Shanahan will seek guidance from NHL commissioner Gary Bettman and the league office before making the hire, as many teams in this situation do.

Hopefully Shanny brings one of these cards to the meeting.

 

[A1LeafNation]

Don't have mcdavid. You are off the list now

We should pitch to him if it makes sense.

 

[CaptainCrunch17]

Maybe. It's pretty rare to take a big step back like that. Maybe if Shanahan was gone as well. Maybe. Typically for a situation like this, the manager is in a situation where he's likely on very thin ice or already 1 foot out there door. I am pretty sure McPhee will be in Vegas for a long time.

Leafs have a lot of money to change peoples minds though so we'll see.

If we're poaching anyone though... I'd rather go really hard after Doug Armstrong from the Blues. Now that's a GM probably a lot closer to thin ice with how things have gone in recent years.

Elliot Friedman mentioned in a podcast that he wondered if Doug Armstrong might be interested and become available.

If the Leafs are able to hire one of either Armstrong or McPhee, I think we’ll be in good shape.

 

[daveleaf]

Chia knows hockey, he won a cup and fleeced us for Seguin. You want that "hockey guy" running things?

Chia before he left Boston everyone wanted him, after the fact not really. There are a number of people you can bring up and say, look how much this guy messed up. It's not a comparison. For all the Dubas lovers, we've won one round and lost in the first or qualifying how many times?

There are others out there, maybe some already employed but could opt out if the opportunity presented itself. There are players here, assets to acquire a lot of talent. Should be very appealing to some.

 

[daveleaf]

They came in last place under Shanahan. Two of the WORST SEASONS EVER were on his watch. Since then they have won a single round in seven tries. One round. Seven tries. Including a whopping six first round losses in a row.

Those record breaking regular seasons mean squat when they are setting records in postseason futility at the same time.

And because of cleaning house and getting the board to agree to a rebuild it brought the Leafs, Nylander, Mariner and Mathews. Not bad for sucking. There are rewards for that. As a president, I think he has done a very good job. Never heard much out of leaf land did you, not like Burke, not like the power struggle between Quinn and JFJ? You can trumpet your horn all you want, Shanahan is not making player decisions, coaching decisions but he was instrumental in bringing Babcock in. I'd take him over Keefe any time. I mean go on if you feel necessary. I'm sure you would have done monumnetaly better behind your computer.

 

[DopeyFish]

Kyle Dubas.

 

[SprDaVE]

Elliot Friedman mentioned in a podcast that he wondered if Doug Armstrong might be interested and become available.

If the Leafs are able to hire one of either Armstrong or McPhee, I think we’ll be in good shape.

I wrote that even before Friedman and Mirtle dropped his name as a potential suitor.

Doug Armstrong shaped that St-Louis Blues team extremely well since 2010. So many shrewd trades and top notch drafting over the years. I do worry about his recent performance, mostly around the time Pietrangelo moved on up to this past season.

 

[Menzinger]

I wrote that even before Friedman and Mirtle dropped his name as a potential suitor.

Doug Armstrong shaped that St-Louis Blues team extremely well since 2010. So many shrewd trades and top notch drafting over the years. I do worry about his recent performance, especially mostly around the time Pietrangelo moved on. But this year he redeemed himself a lot to kick start a retool.

Armstrong is also president of the Blues. Would he be interested in a demotion to work under Shanahan?

Maybe if the price was right. But it's an obstacle

 

[daveleaf]

Kept a toxic coach who lost the room

It surprises me with Sutter. I guess at the end he really didn't care and did things his way. You can't argue with his prior success. It's hard for us to criticize. Did he go to him and asked him to scale it back and Sutter flipped him the bird? Did he have orders from ownership that Sutter would be there forever. It's hard to know. Somewhere in between. I will say this, Treliving coming down for the last skate and shaking hands with all the players was to me, very class.

 

[SprDaVE]

Armstrong is also president of the Blues. Would he be interested in a demotion to work under Shanahan?

Maybe if the price was right. But it's an obstacle

Strickland doesn't think he will do that. But money and fame talks? The Blues haven't been great for the last few years under Armstrong either, one playoff round won since their cup win and missed the playoffs this season. Maybe Shanahan will layout a plan for Armstrong to take over the Presidents job while he takes another exec role? I dunno. Shanahan convinced Lamoriello... he can probably do it again.

 

[Menzinger]

Why does everyone want Tulsky?

The Canes have imo a top 3 front office group in the leagues and he's been a big part of it.

He's a newer school AGM - very analytics driven - and has accomplished some great stuff with the Canes despite working with a fraction of the budget they spend on stuff in Toronto.

Taking him + the Leafs resources seem like a match made in heaven

 

[WTFMAN99]

The Canes have imo a top 3 front office group in the leagues and he's been a big part of it.

He's a newer school AGM - very analytics driven - and has accomplished some great stuff with the Canes despite working with a fraction of the budget they spend on stuff in Toronto.

Taking him + the Leafs resources seem like a match made in heaven

I always wonder if sometimes these guys thrive with the limited resources and almost get overwhelmed with the options of our budget.

He's one of my top guys though so...