Dave Litman
The firing of general manager Brad Treliving last week is clearly just the first shoe to drop for the Toronto Maple Leafs. Ownership and MLSE President & CEO Keith Pelley have made that clear. Insider Elliotte Friedman gives us the latest inside scoop on a recent meeting that has left employees around the organization on high alert.
After the change at general manager, Keith Pelley held a Zoom call with members of the hockey operations department. And just from talking to a number of people after it was over, and in the last couple of days, it’s pretty clear that they are expecting major change.
I asked, ‘Did Pelley say anything specifically about ‘change’ in there?’ And it wasn’t so much the word, it was about how he talked. One of the things he mentioned was, ‘We are going to use our resources to the fullest capacity we can.’ And they were kind of left with the impression that (Pelley) felt they hadn’t been doing that. So that’s why I think people are expecting that there’s going to be even more changes.
The Leafs are thought to have some strong analytics people on staff, including Special Assistant to the General Manager Darryl Metcalf and Analyst for Hockey Research and Development Cam Charron. That’s likely a big part of what the team president was referring to in recounting that they weren’t using their resources to the fullest capacity.
More ‘Major changes’ coming for Leafs front office
Pelley cited during his big press conference last week that he has designs on finding a more ‘data-centric’ hockey operations chief. Kind of sounds like he’s looking for someone like… Kyle Dubas. Leafs fans may have heard of this fella.
Dubas, who has the Pittsburgh Penguins on the verge of clinching a highly unexpected playoff berth this season, was the man who hired the likes of Metcalf and Charron for the Toronto front office. Dubas is the one who pioneered that robust analytics department.
Of course, the previous Leafs corner office thinkers decided to ditch Dubas after the 2022-23 season, following seven seasons of playoff failures, which featured just one series win. That stretched to 9 years of postseason flubs after Dubas left, and now a complete whiff on the playoffs altogether this year.
For now, assistant GMs Brandon Pridham and Ryan Hardy are co-managing the Leafs on an interim basis.
Pelley and his staff have a lot of work to do to get this thing turned around. From the sounds of it, a lot of people in that front office will be looking over their shoulders.
Ironically, the Leafs might have won a bit by losing on Saturday night. By allowing the Los Angeles Kings to steal two points in an overtime win, LA remains tied for the final Wild Card berth in the Western Conference. If the Kings make the postseason dance, the third-round pick they sent to Toronto for Scott Laughton at the trade deadline becomes a second-rounder.
