No matter who is brought in to run the Maple Leafs, the first conversation that many believe needs to happen is to try and figure out where Auston Matthews’ head is at regarding his future within the organization. The Maple Leafs captain remains under contract for the next two seasons at $13.25 million with a no-movement clause.
“I think it starts with conversations with the Auston Matthews camp, and you ask, what are your intentions? I think you can have in your mind what you want to do as a manager if you’re going to take over that organization. You’ve gone through the depth charts, contracts, and intentions, but you have to have those conversations with Austin Matthews and William Nylander,” McLennan said. “These guys are your foundational pieces, and you need to know if they want to be a part of this and if they’ll buy in because it might be one season of slight pain where you have to move some chairs around to clear cap space and bring in players. I do believe it’s about understanding the guys who are incumbent already, seeing where their heads are at, and selling them on your vision.”
Many organizations throughout the NHL have former players who spent their playing careers as members of that team, come back to work within their front offices. The Maple Leafs have not been an organization that has added many former players, but according to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, that could soon change. Former captain and Maple Leafs legend, Mats Sundin, was reportedly interviewed for an advisory role, while TSN’s Darren Dreger reported that the team also spoke to Gary Roberts. McLennan spoke about how he felt about bringing back former players reuniting with the organization that they played for.
“I think you need a PR win in certain situations, and Sundin is a win. Also, in that sense, he’s a smart guy,” McLennan said. “Other organizations have brought in people in different situations. I’ll give you an example: Craig Conroy has Jarome Iginla. In today’s world, there’s a lot of former players that do not need to work because they’ve made enough money, they’re comfortably retired, but they want to stay busy. So you bring in some of these guys to work, but only at their own pace. They don’t want to be an assistant GM, be in the rink every day, and grind scouting 16-year-olds but they want to help. I have no problem bringing in smart people that are willing to work at their own pace to help the organization.”
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