Who would you like as the next GM?

[Gallagbi]

I guess one could say Stan Bowman is to GMs what Matt Murray is to goaltending.

Stanley Cups from years ago mean little in the what have you done for me lately analysis.

Yup, ignoring that whole rape thing - theyre very similar. Well Murray won his cups more recently, and the Leafs had 2 competitive options ready to support if he failed. But aside from those, its a great comparison

 

[ToneDog]

The optics with Pridham and Treliving. Calgary wants our guy and we take the guy they fired?

Treliving declined an extension. Still under contract. Not punted like you know who.

 

[thewave]

The optics with Pridham and Treliving. Calgary wants our guy and we take the guy they fired?

If you look at all the numbers we're way safer with Pridham.

Treliving declined an extension. Still under contract. Not punted like you know who.

He's from BC and really hasn't accomplished anything. I'd hard pass on him TBH.

 

[ToneDog]

If you look at all the numbers we're way safer with Pridham.

I wouldn't mind seeing a turnover in the front office. Bring in a new voice and clean out the old rot.

 

[thewave]

I wouldn't mind seeing a turnover in the front office. Bring in a new voice and clean out the old rot.

Ya but why Treliving? Way more competence in someone like McPhee.

 

[rumman]

My only concern is that do we need a guy with years (in age and time managed) who could come in here and tell Shanahan or the higher ups, shut up that doesn’t work. You’ve been doing that wrong. Like if Lou said something, they would all stop and listen.

There are a lot of good candidates, Pridham, other AGMs around the league, but do we need a vet?

There can be only one………

 

[Statsman1]

I voted for Bowman….then I read 30 pages of various opinions, and came around to the idea that Pridham might be the better choice than Bowman. But, tragically, I had forgotten about Kyle Beach.

Depending on how long you believe a person should pay for their misdeeds (the Kyle Beach story is just such a failure by people who are trusted to know better), I think you can argue that while Bowman is capable of running a team, he shouldn’t be in charge of our team. I won’t get into whether or not CHI should have been penalized, or punished with draft pick removal, or anything like that, but I think Bowman would get destroyed here with questions about those Beach years, and never allowed to forget that it happened, and personally, I think that is the deserved way for that to play out for him, no matter where he goes.

Based on that, I would rescind my vote for him.

Everyone else’s pro-arguments for Pridham sway me to believe that he should be the man.

Also, Shanahan said that he would PREFER a guy with experience, but that doesn’t mean that’s the ultimate factor in who lands here. The team and MLSE already know Pridham, that has to count for something.

 

[ToneDog]

Ya but why Treliving? Way more competence in someone like McPhee.

Does not have to be Treliving and never said so although he is my guess who they hire.

 

[usernamezrhardtodo]

For those who want Stan Bowman.

Let me remind you of some of his masterful recent moves.

Since 2016

Traded Artemi Panarin + Tyler Motte + 6th for Brandon Saad + Michael Paliota and a 6th.
Traded Teuvo Teravainen + Bryan Bickell for a 2nd and 3rd
Traded Brandon Saad for Zadorov
Traded Philip Danault + 2nd (Alexander Romanov) for Dale Weise and Thomas Fleischmann.
Traded Adam Boqvist, 2 1sts (Jiricek, Sillinger), and 2nd (Heimosalmi) for Seth Jones + 31st (Allen)
Signed Seth Jones for 8 years 9.5 million.
Acquiring Shaw for a 2nd, 3rd, 4th
And the list goes on of awful trades, and moves.

Yea I get that he won some cups, but guy has been awful since 2015. + the Kyle beach shit show, I would stay away from him with a 10 foot pole.

Most of the good players were set in place by the previous GM anyways...this guy basically pulled a Kyle Dubas and just whittled the talent away to nothing. He is literally on the Chiarelli level as far as I am concerned.

 

[thewave]

I voted for Bowman….then I read 30 pages of various opinions, and came around to the idea that Pridham might be the better choice than Bowman. But, tragically, I had forgotten about Kyle Beach.

Depending on how long you believe a person should pay for their misdeeds (the Kyle Beach story is just such a failure by people who are trusted to know better), I think you can argue that while Bowman is capable of running a team, he shouldn’t be in charge of our team. I won’t get into whether or not CHI should have been penalized, or punished with draft pick removal, or anything like that, but I think Bowman would get destroyed here with questions about those Beach years, and never allowed to forget that it happened, and personally, I think that is the deserved way for that to play out for him, no matter where he goes.

Based on that, I would rescind my vote for him.

Everyone else’s pro-arguments for Pridham sway me to believe that he should be the man.

Also, Shanahan said that he would PREFER a guy with experience, but that doesn’t mean that’s the ultimate factor in who lands here. The team and MLSE already know Pridham, that has to count for something.

Shanahan notified 31 teams that Pridham is acting GM. That effectively ended all requests for other teams to talk to him about becoming their GM.

 

[rumman]

Brandon Pridham​

If the Leafs want the quickest, smoothest transition to a gig that requires a lot of action in the near future: Pridham might be the way to go. Shanahan said explicitly Friday that in the meantime, before filling the job, “I’ll be leaning heavily on Brandon Pridham, and that “I’m not ruling anybody out at this point.” Having worked for years at the NHL with Central Scouting and the Central Registry, he is one of the sport’s foremost salary cap experts. He was instrumental in helping Dubas with salary-cap gymnastics in recent seasons. Pridham might not have the biggest media presence but, theoretically, he’d be well-equipped to hit the ground running in an organization that is already completely familiar to him.

Hope he understands that putting half your cap into 4 players doesn’t work, won’t work, will never work……..

 

[kevsh]

In order to rely on that 3rd stat you need to be really strong in the 4th stat. Good on Carolina for either bringing in players that win puck battles or converting them to it.

Hyman is/was one of the best at it, unfortunately he was too expensive because Dubas/Keefe preferred a different approach which meant relying on even more expensive players.

 

[rumman]

Tulsky is currently winning this poll and his Carolina team lead the NHL in dump-ins.

They routinely dump the puck into the offensive zone, forecheck like animals and win tons of 1v1/2v1 puck battles.

I would say that description isn't anywhere close to how we played under Dubas where we didn't like giving up possession, weren't a strong forechecking team and weren't a team you'd expect to win alot of physical board battles.

I even saw a sequence last night where they got a PP in the third period. Gostisbehere literally skated the puck to center and just riffled it into the zone, they got 3 forwards quickly in on the forecheck, won a 2v1 board battle and got the puck back to the point. Was such a clean and effective sequence and something you almost never see from us but was something we should have used more often when were struggling so much to get clean zone entries because the opposing team was just standing us up at their blueline.

They dominated advanced stats this season but not playing the way some would assume.

Can you imagine 34, 16, and 88 faces when they hear “dump and chase………..”

 

[Statsman1]

Hope he understands that putting half your cap into 4 players doesn’t work, won’t work, will never work……..

I wonder if, at the time, Pridham might have said to Dubas, “Um, dude…..don’t you think we’re getting hosed here?” when going over the contracts for AM, MM or WN?

 

[rumman]

Odds are he leaves if he does not get the job like Hunter did. Might be the most seamless transition. Shanny is still around to guide the ship so we probably hit the ground running.

Two words that you rarely here in the same sentence: seamless and the Leafs……..

Right, Pridham is actually an elite level mind. If Shanahan isn't going anywhere and can work with him to balance out the NHL hands on experience of it all, that's a good thing.

It's already in action. He just hasn't been formally given a GM's contract.

Why state the star search for the new GM then? If he’s the guy it would have been better just to say Kyle’s out Pridham’s in imo……..

 

[rumman]

Mike Kelly from NHL network/Sportlogiq was on 590 two weeks ago basically saying the tracking stats show that in the playoffs the number of dump-ins increase, the number of board battles increase but offense created off the rush goes down.

Not entirely shocking but was nice to hear confirmed by a stats person.

Ergo the Leafs playoff failures are because they were built WRONG………

Pridham could be on the phone today with Matthews agent already testing future contract info, with that NMC about to kick in.

He could already be trying to find a new home for Matt Murray or be factoring in the cost of a buyout on a Salary Cap which he would know how to manage.

He also likely knows the asking prices of some of Leafs many pending UFAs, and can start planing on who stays and who goes.

Lots of upside with the Leafs going with Pridham as an easy transition, with the only downside might be he is/has been to close to the situation and players and if tough choices need to be made then a fresh set of eyes in the GM chair without and previous ties might be required for change to happen.

Or on the phone seeing what trade options exist to change the make up of the team………

 

[thewave]

Two words that you rarely here in the same sentence: seamless and the Leafs……..


Why state the star search for the new GM then? If he’s the guy it would have been better just to say Kyle’s out Pridham’s in imo……..

Due diligence and fair bargaining power. He has to do it by the book just like any company that posts for a high level position. Even if there is a shoe in internally they still do their due diligence. I think it's just process.

 

[rumman]

The optics with Pridham and Treliving. Calgary wants our guy and we take the guy they fired?

Prefer it’s one guy, too many cooks and all…….

 

[usernamezrhardtodo]

Tulsky is currently winning this poll and his Carolina team lead the NHL in dump-ins.

They routinely dump the puck into the offensive zone, forecheck like animals and win tons of 1v1/2v1 puck battles.

I would say that description isn't anywhere close to how we played under Dubas where we didn't like giving up possession, weren't a strong forechecking team and weren't a team you'd expect to win alot of physical board battles.

I even saw a sequence last night where they got a PP in the third period. Gostisbehere literally skated the puck to center and just riffled it into the zone, they got 3 forwards quickly in on the forecheck, won a 2v1 board battle and got the puck back to the point. Was such a clean and effective sequence and something you almost never see from us but was something we should have used more often when were struggling so much to get clean zone entries because the opposing team was just standing us up at their blueline.

They dominated advanced stats this season but not playing the way some would assume.

The fact that 80%+ of a game is played within 3ft of the boards is a thing and we continually kept doing Ice Dancing in the middle of the ice makes me believe that Dubas didn't understand winning hockey. If the game is played along the boards...why are you stocked with Engvall's and Kerfoot's? I never knew that stat until Dallas Eakins said it on HNIC.

So, you have an obvious formula for playing playoff hockey and you basically ignore it for 4.5yrs? I just want a GM that understands how the game is played and will get players that will play that type of game. If that is Brad from Calgary...then so be it. I would probably want McPhee before Tree..

 

[Trapper]

The optics with Pridham and Treliving. Calgary wants our guy and we take the guy they fired?

If the choice is Treliving and Pridham, might as well be Pridham. How could our own guy not have a leg up in terms of knowing all the players, system, contracts, drafting, etc.

If the choice is a McPhee or someone with that stature, different story. That is a better proven track record and voice in the organization.

The fact that 80%+ of a game is played within 3ft of the boards is a thing and we continually kept doing Ice Dancing in the middle of the ice makes me believe that Dubas didn't understand winning hockey. If the game is played along the boards...why are you stocked with Engvall's and Kerfoot's? I never knew that stat until Dallas Eakins said it on HNIC.

So, you have an obvious formula for playing playoff hockey and you basically ignore it for 4.5yrs? I just want a GM that understands how the game is played and will get players that will play that type of game. If that is Brad from Calgary...then so be it. I would probably want McPhee before Tree..

It’s a healthy balance and your core needs to be able to do both very well and maintain.

Nothing wrong with some fancy okay in the regular season, you don’t want to battle with the same intensity for 82 games and burn out. But you need to be able to flip the switch and change styles. Our core makeup is not designed that way. The core needs to change.

 

[hockeywiz542]

 

[Face Of Bear]

I really hope that's not the list Shanahan was looking at when he decided we're better off moving on from Dubas

 

[Eye Test]

In order to rely on that 3rd stat you need to be really strong in the 4th stat. Good on Carolina for either bringing in players that win puck battles or converting them to it.

Hyman is/was one of the best at it, unfortunately he was too expensive because Dubas/Keefe preferred a different approach which meant relying on even more expensive players.

Never get why ppl hated on dump ins? Especially if teams are playing tight and playing the trap. Easier to dump it and go bang their D for turnovers than to skate it through a clogged neutral zone.

Our teams just not built for it sadly and that’s why teams can shut us down we play one style

 

[Trapper]

Can you imagine 34, 16, and 88 faces when they hear “dump and chase………..”

Explaining our new system to the core:

 

[daveleaf]

Brendan Shanahan on hot seat as Maple Leafs president seeks to finally get it right

Eight years to the day after hiring Mike Babcock to coach the Maple Leafs, Brendan Shanahan has the Original Six club in state of disarray.

torontosun.com

Under Shanahan, the Leafs have become a team that wins regularly only if it’s the regular season, before annually falling by the wayside in the playoffs. This year, finally, came that first-round victory against the Tampa Bay Lightning. Then came the Florida Panthers, who threw a rink-sized bucket of ice-cold water over the Leafs’ dreams in a mere five games.

Under Shanahan, the Leafs talk every year about the desire to win the Stanley Cup, and if that stated wish was all that was required, the parade route would be worn out by now. Instead, the Leafs have never matched their skill, and expectations of themselves, with actual success in the post-season.

At some point, Shanahan is going to have to get it right with his hirings, isn’t he? How many more presentations have to be made to the MLSE board before someone peers over their reading glasses and realizes that with Shanahan running the show, the Leafs haven’t won?

We know that at least one more of those meetings with his bosses will take place in — the Leafs as a whole should hope — the near future.

At some point in the coming weeks, Shanahan will announce he has hired a new general manager in the wake of the firing of Kyle Dubas on Friday. That person, whether it’s Brad Treliving or Mark Hunter or Mathieu Darche or Stan Bowman or someone else, has to be given the freedom that Dubas apparently was seeking. And the hiring has to happen relatively quickly, considering the roster decisions that will have to be made.

Intriguing about the persistent speculation that Dubas wanted more autonomy in doing his job: If Shanahan was sticking his nose into hockey decisions, or putting a halt to some things Dubas wanted to do, or making personnel decisions himself, why was the president so eager to sign Dubas to an extension? If he didn’t have faith in Dubas’ ability to make decisions, why did it get to the point where, we’re led to believe, only a Dubas signature was needed for his return?

If that’s really the way that Shanahan functioned, we can’t see a person who has had experience as an NHL GM prepared to go to work for Shanahan and the Leafs under similar circumstances.

Time was Shanahan had Lou Lamoriello as the GM and Babcock as coach. It was a combination of formidable hockey knowledge that was supposed to bring the Cup(s) to Toronto.

But when Shanahan figured five years ago that Dubas was ready to become the GM, Lamoriello was gone. Some 18 months later, it was Babcock’s turn to be shown the door, fired in the Arizona desert after Shanahan cleared enough off his schedule to catch a flight to Phoenix to deliver a pink slip.

Dubas, the chosen one by Shanahan, had his own chosen candidate ripening with the Toronto Marlies. Sheldon Keefe has done some good things as the Leafs’ coach, but the next time he steps foot into Scotiabank Arena, the assumption is that it will be to clean out his office.

A new GM will undoubtedly want to hire his own person behind the bench. As for the handwringing in some quarters that more staff will follow Jason Spezza’s lead and resign, let’s not make too much of staff changes. As with the coach, a new GM will want to make some of his own hires for the front office.

Shanahan couldn’t make it work with two longtime, successful NHL vets in Lamoriello and Babcock; he couldn’t make it work when the responsibility was handed to Dubas and Keefe, two men who, despite having made significant growth in the sport, had no experience at the NHL level when they were hired for their respective jobs with the Leafs. And it didn’t work for the brief time that Dubas and Babcock were a tandem.

So now, Shanahan’s reward is that he gets another crack at getting it right. If only the man who won three Cups as a player and was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame could take a chunk of that success as an executive and turn it into a Cup.

We’re not holding our breath. History tells us we shouldn’t.

I'm not sure this added scope Dubas was asking for was the original makeup of the team. Now if you have a GM on the last year of his contract are you going to allow him to do whatever he wanted? Let's be honest here, the team only started to add real grit this year. We can make all the excuses for Dubas but in the end he was handed a roster that was pretty deep. Even Shanahan in his presser years ago said what they had with Lou, Hunter and Dubas could not last. At the time he thought it was between Mark and Kyle since Lou's age was getting up there. I don't have a problem with Shanahan, I do have a problem with Dubas and always have.