Insider reveals that the Maple Leafs organization wants a former player to be more involved with the team
Ahead of puckdrop for the Maple Leafs first game of the Global Series, former Maple Leafs fan favourite Mats Sundin surprised the team by announcing the starting lineup. Sundin, who spends most of his time in Sweden, has spent a lot of time with the Leafs players and staff since they arrived in earlier this week. That included dinner with Max Domi and a few lengthy conversations with Leafs President Brendan Shanahan.
Sundin makes the odd appearance in Toronto for special events and Leaf games, but other than that is not overly involved in the organization. However, the Leafs are hoping that changes according to one insider. On today's episode of «32 Thoughts» Elliotte Friedman mentioned that members of the Leafs organization are hoping that Sundin spending the week around the team while they're in Sweden will lead to him becoming more involved in the organization.
Friedman mentioned that Shanahan was instrumental in ending Dave Keon's grudge with the Leafs, not to say there is any grudge with Sundin, but people in the organization hope that he becomes more involved. They want him to become more involved because he has a smart hockey mind and believe he can add value to the organization. Given that Sundin spends the majority of his time in Sweden, maybe they begin with him doing some scouting or as a player development coach for their prospects in Europe. Either way, the conversations with Shanahan could be the start of Sundin being more integrated into the every day operations of the Leafs.
