Insider announces several veteran GMs that the Leafs may be looking at and it's making Leafs Nation nervous
The Toronto Maple Leafs are diving head first into their search for a new general manager and that alone has Leafs Nation in a frenzy. The numerous candidates that have been popping up in rumours or through the channels of several venerable insiders is making things a lot worse. Kyle Dubas was no saint, however compared to some of the names being mentioned, it makes you wonder if they made the right call.
During a segment on That's Hockey, Darren Dreger mentioned that the Leafs are zeroing in on candidates that have a boat-load of experience in comparison to Dubas. Some names include: Brad Treliving, Ray Shero, Peter Chiarelli, and Marc Bergevin. Another name that has surfaced is former player, Scott Mellanby, who doesn't have any general managing experience but has been a part of several front offices of a few teams since he retired.
Treliving is coming off the heels of being fired from the Calgary Flames after nearly a decade at the helm. He had his hands tied when he was forced into trading Matthew Tkachuk and letting Johnny Gaudreau walk into free agency but handed out long-term contracts to both Jonathan Huberdeau and Nazem Kadri that didn't go over too well this past season. Another blemish to his tenure was keeping Darryl Sutter around and then extending him as well.
Ray Shero was either the assistant general manager or general manager of a hockey club between 1993-94 to 2019-20. After being fired by the New Jersey Devils, he took a few years off before becoming a Senior Advisor for the Minnesota Wild. He has a Stanley Cup ring from his time with the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2009. He is also the son of former head coach Fred Shero, who led the Philadelphia Flyers to their only 2 championships in franchise history.
Peter Chiarelli was the long-time general manager of the Boston Bruins and the Edmonton Oilers. He won the Stanley Cup in 2010-11 but then fell off his rocker shortly after. He is notorious for making some infamous trades like trading Tyler Seguin for a package that surrounded Loui Eriksson as well as the one-for-one swap where he traded Taylor Hall for Adam Larsson. Before being fired by the Oilers, he signed Mikko Koskinen without anyone having any knowledge of the move - an extension that was rather costly for the Oilers both on and off the ice.
Marc Bergevin was the general manager of the Montreal Canadiens from 2012-13 to 2021-22. The Canadiens were always a dark-horse when it came to contention because you never really knew what you were going to get from them, except with Carey Price in goal. Like Chiarelli, his last few seasons weren't great but he faced the music of the harsh media in Montreal, which might be the only saving grace if he came to Toronto.
Scott Mellanby retired from the NHL after the 2006-07 season as the captain of the Atlanta Thrashers. He then joined the Vancouver Canucks as a scout and senior advisor from 2008-09 to 2009-10. After that he became an assistant coach for the St. Louis Blues for 2 seasons, became the director of player personnel for the Montreal Canadiens for another 2 years, before being named their assistant general manager from 2014-15 to 2021-22. He just spent the past season back with the Blues as a senior advisor.
None of these names ring much confidence, however Brendan Shanahan seems adamant about hiring someone with experience. Out of the names mentioned, the best of 5 evils might be Ray Shero, while giving Mellanby a shot has a better chance of paying off than Chiarelli, Bergevin, or Treliving.
A modern mind is necessary right now, one that can break the shackles of the core members and try to instill a different culture within the confines of Scotiabank Arena. Not sure these names will do that but unfortunately they're the ones popping up on the list at the moment.
| POLL | ||
MAI 22 | 60 ANSWERS Insider announces several veteran GMs that the Leafs may be looking at and it's making Leafs Nation nervous Are the Leafs right to go with a more experienced GM this time around? | ||
| Yes | 38 | 63.3 % |
| No | 3 | 5 % |
| Go with the guy who has the best plan | 19 | 31.7 % |
| List of polls | ||
