Leafs at risk of losing a very important piece of their front office
During yesterday's Leafs press conference, where Brendan Shanahan announced Brad Treliving as the 18th GM in franchise history, Treliving made a somewhat surprising comment about having a good relationship with Leafs' assistant general manager Brandon Pridham, dating back to when Pridham was still employed by the league.
The comment was sparked by a question surrounding whether or not Treliving was planning on bringing in his own AGM, presumably to replace Pridham. Treliving's very quick and well-delivered response displayed an incredible amount of faith and trust in Pridham as an executive.
Treliving really wanted to hammer home the point that he appreciates all the work that people have done in Toronto before him. He raved about the skill level of the group on the ice and about the character and work ethic of the executives and other staff off the ice. To me, it appeared to be a new GM coming in and wanting to make his people feel as safe as possible before the real work begins this summer, so kudos to him for that. However, regardless of how he may feel - this may be out of his hands.
Before the Leafs had hired Treliving, Pridham was the guy who held things down on an interim basis from a GM standpoint. It may not have been for very long, but that's who was running the show until Shanahan tracked down a suitable replacement for Kyle Dubas. However, it is believed that Pridham has his sights set on a GM job in the NHL. There were some who believed he deserved to take over in Toronto after Dubas left. Now, with Dubas not only leaving Toronto, but landing a President of Hockey Ops gig with the Penguins, it leaves a spot open for Dubas to bring some of his guys with him, opening up opportunities with another organization that will give some guys a chance to move up the ladder in their careers.
There was some speculation yesterday during Kyle Dubas' presser in Pittsburgh that he could be looking to bring someone with him from the Leafs' organization. Dubas squashed those rumours immediately when he told those in attendance that his plan was to act as GM and President in Pittsburgh in the interim and sort out finding a GM later. Here's why that's important.
We all know about the split between Kyle Dubas and Brendan Shanahan not being the most amicable one. While Shanahan came out and sang Dubas' praises, Kyle did not do the same for him, instead choosing to remain quiet and to not speak about how things may have fallen apart from his perspective. Shanahan, as he revealed during the Leafs' presser, had been in constant contact with Fenway Sports Group, singing Dubas' praises to the ownership group there and trying in earnest to help Dubas land the gig in Pittsburgh. Yes, it was a part of his job as Dubas' former employer, but it's entirely possible that Shanahan made a deal with Dubas not to take anyone with him from the Leafs' organization until after the draft.
We found out from Shanahan directly during yesterday's press conference that the Flames have imposed some limitations and restrictions on Treliving as a part of their agreement to allow him to speak with the Leafs about their vacant GM job. Those limitations surround his level of participation in the draft. It has since been reported by a number of Insiders that Treliving will not even be able to sit with the Leafs at the draft table on June 28th and 29th. It stands to reason that Shanahan would not want to be without his general manager AND his AGM on draft day. Perhaps Dubas agreed not to approach Pridham about the GM gig in Pittsburgh until after the draft has concluded.
The suspicious thing in all of this was Dubas' choice of words, saying that he would be handling the GM duties in Pittsburgh "in the interim". If he wanted to be GM and President, that option, I'm sure, was available to him. Instead, he chose to use the "interim" tag. Why is that? My theory is that it's because he knows that he has someone coming with him.
There was some speculation that Jason Spezza could be named the next GM of the Pens, but I'm not sure that's the case for a few reasons. First, Spezza has no experience as a GM and very little experiences as an executive. If anything, he may join the Pens as a scout or director of scouting - something in that capacity, as he was involved in the scouting process with the Leafs. Second, there may be contractual issues between Spezza and the Leafs, as he resigned from his position just before the Leafs announced that they would be parting ways with Dubas. This means that he likely had term remaining on his contract with MLSE. Lastly, Pridham was Dubas' guy a heck of a lot longer than Spezza was.
Honestly, this is all pretty wild and there's still a lot to unpack here, but in my mind and in my heart, I do believe that Dubas would like to, if possible, bring his right-hand man, Brandon Pridham, along with him to Pittsburgh. He has promoted Pridham a number of times in Toronto and is very high on him. It would shock me if he didn't pursue him pretty aggressively, regardless of what kind of relationship Pridham and Treliving may already have had prior to both of them landing in Toronto.
| POLL | ||
JUIN 2 | 21 ANSWERS Leafs at risk of losing a very important piece of their front office Will Kyle Dubas push to bring Brandon Pridham with him to Pittsburgh? | ||
| Yes | 10 | 47.6 % |
| No | 2 | 9.5 % |
| I wouldn't be surprised, but can't say for sure | 6 | 28.6 % |
| Spezza is the guy for Dubas | 3 | 14.3 % |
| List of polls | ||
