TSN’s Hockey Insiders share their takeaways from MLSE president & CEO Keith Pelley’s media availability, including what the Leafs will look for in GM candidates, organizational structure and direction/planning.
Gino Reda: Rebuild or retool? How long is it going to take to contend again? And what’s it going to take to be the next person guiding this ship? Here are the Insiders, Chris Johnston, Pierre LeBrun and Darren Dreger. Pierre, what’s your takeaway on the direction where this organization is now headed?
Pierre LeBrun: Well I would say that Keith Pelley, the head of MLSE tipped his hand at least slightly when he talked about favouring a retool over a rebuild during his big news conference on Tuesday. Now, he did say that at the end of the day though, whoever he hires to be the new head of hockey operations of the Toronto Maple Leafs will have final say on that.
But let’s be real.
When you go into these interviews with an organization and your boss is already saying publicly he prefers a retool over a rebuild, that should probably be a cue card for people interviewing for that job.
Now, I will tell you that some of the candidates who are deliberating whether they want to throw their hat in the ring were watching that news conference carefully because there are some people who believe that this is a team that actually needs a rebuild. So, that nuance is important and a lot of people were paying attention on this day.
Darren Dreger: Yeah, I think that’s fair. What does a retool mean? We’re not just talking about one or two pieces. I can tell you that Brad Treliving was at least working on what he saw as a potential fix. Some of the draft picks that Treliving and the Toronto Maple Leafs acquired at the trade deadline he was hoping to use as trade collateral to acquire a good, young defenceman.
But it’s way more than that.
You look at Craig Berube, assuming he’s the head coach of the Maple Leafs next year. He wants bigger, more competitive players up front and he also needs a centre to take some of the load off of John Tavares.
So, retool is an interesting R-word when you apply it to the direction of the Maple Leafs and probably speaks more to the business side of things than the reality of hockey operations.
Reda: Keith Pelley wasn’t going to show his hand on potential candidates. But he did shed some light on the skill set he’s looking for, CJ?
Chris Johnston: Yeah, he mentioned that a data-minded person is a priority for the Leafs here. And I can tell you there’s actually a big hockey analytics conference going on in Denver. And the room absolutely a buzz went through it when that was announced because obviously, when you’re talking about that kind of skill set you’re talking about potentially people that haven’t traditionally been in NHL general manager roles.
This isn’t something you can say has traditionally been something that’s gone with the job. Obviously Eric Tulsky of the Carolina Hurricanes kind of fits that mold but he’s already got a job at this point.
And so the Leafs are going to engage at some point I’m told in the next week officially with a search firm that’s going to help them start to identify some of these candidates. And they are willing to look at potentially having a first-time general manager if that person ends up being paired with someone with a proper level of hockey experience. Perhaps in a president type of role.
LeBrun: Right. And I do think that it sounds like Pelley has talked about multiple hires. If it is a veteran voice at the head of hockey ops atop that list. Doug Armstrong jumps to the top of the list in the Toronto market.
I think we need to clarify though with Doug Armstrong. Just because he’s stepping down as Blues GM on July 1 doesn’t mean that he’s leaving the organization. He is signed to a three-year extension as president of hockey operations in St. Louis.
So if MLSE plans to reach out to the Blues – and I mean, they really should – it’s up to owner Tom Stillman in St. Louis to decide whether or not he would give permission to the Leafs to talk to Doug Armstrong. So, to be determined on that.
And a blast from the past here, Mike Gillis. You know, the reason I bring him up is that when you hear some of the things that Keith Pelley said at his news conference in terms of the modernization of the front office and some of the things that he’s looking at.
Boy, does it sound a lot like some of the things that Mike Gillis has always talked about from his time in Vancouver and his time in the NHLPA. I would expect Gillis to also be among a long list of guys to have a conversation with Pelley at some point.
Dreger: Sources around the National Hockey League believe that the Toronto Maple Leafs are a team that actually needs a president of hockey operations. That the job is simply too big for one guy to both be the general manager and then ultimately deal with a number of things that a president of hockey ops would have to deal with.
And I can tell you that when Brendan Shanahan was let go, Brad Treliving had serious reservations about coming back as general manager because he understood everything that Brendan Shanahan brought to the deal.
But really things didn’t start to unravel fully for the Maple Leafs until the post-Olympic break. And I’m told that during the Olympic break there was at least an initial conversation between Keith Pelley and Brad Treliving about the potential of an extension.
So here’s an opportunity for the Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment team to actually rebuild hockey ops.
Reda: One of the key questions in all of this, how does Auston Matthews, who’s only got two years left on his current deal after this one, feel about taking the new course, CJ?
Johnston: Well, we’re still sort of working through that. And I think Auston is, of course, with the people that he trusts as well.
I think it’s notable though on this day that Keith Pelley reached out to Auston Matthews. They did exchange some texts and there is an expectation at some point here as the Leafs get into the off-season that there will be further conversations between Matthews, his representatives, Keith Pelley, everyone important with the Leafs just in terms of the direction of the organization and where things are at. Because at this point in time, I’m not sure if he knows what the future looks like.
I think a lot of people are asking questions about the direction of this organization. And obviously, if we’re talking about Auston Matthews potentially not being on board with the plan, well that might change the whole discussion entirely.
Reda: So how important are the next few weeks to the success of this Leafs organization moving forward? Keith Pelley says it’s going to be the most important decision he’ll make in his tenure at MLSE.
