Maple Leafs elect for high-risk, high-reward option in hiring franchise legend Mats Sundin
Mats Sundin is the most beloved member of the Toronto Maple Leafs of the past 25 years, and he’s often stayed out of the public spotlight after his illustrious playing career. Sundin attended the Leafs’ past two training camps, and returned to Toronto to congratulate Auston Matthews on breaking his franchise goals record in January. As the Maple Leafs undergo a period of seismic change, with their window-long decade of contention apparently slamming shut, the MLSE board elected to pursue a high-risk, high-reward option by installing the franchise legend as the new vice president of hockey operations, a decision that’s expected to be announced formally Monday.
Although Sundin is a Hockey Hall of Fame inductee, he is relatively new to the executive suite. Sundin never worked in an NHL front office, and he’s often viewed the game through the lens of a dedicated Leafs observer or hockey savant. And with the franchise seemingly in peril, Sundin evidently grew fed up with the direction the Leafs were heading in and made it clear during the interview process that he wasn’t going to end his retirement to merely become an advisor. Sundin takes Maple Leafs history more seriously than any current player, and his mere presence forced all levels of the organization to stand at attention when he returned in January. Perhaps the thinking here suggests that Sundin’s presence will almost force a militaristic-like duty to the crest, in the absence of true pride over the past few years.
It’s a risky proposition for the Maple Leafs. MLSE CEO Keith Pelley mentioned the Buffalo Sabres and Montreal Canadiens without prompt during his March 31 press conference, and the Maple Leafs’ age-related peers in the Tampa Bay Lightning and Florida Panthers have won multiple Stanley Cups. Sundin and presumptive general manager John Chayka will need to inherently understand the challenges of the modern game, and adapt them immediately to a Maple Leafs team that is aging out of its prime years. For Sundin, the risk is personal as well: if he does a poor job in this new role, will he squander his legacy as the most beloved Maple Leafs player of the 21st century?
Toronto needed to make a bold hire, and elected to hire a franchise legend who deeply cares about the history, direction and success of the franchise. Pelley was clearly exploring several unconventional routes and frustrated some of hockey’s established guard by refusing to pursue a big-ticket candidate such as St. Louis Blues general manager Doug Armstrong. Sundin will now oversee a Maple Leafs team led by Auston Matthews and William Nylander, looking to make several upgrades to the roster, while facing the uphill battle of catching the upstart Sabres and Canadiens in the Atlantic. It will be the greatest challenge of his career, a lifetime that saw him become the Maple Leafs’ franchise leader in points, while becoming a civic hero. If Sundin pulls it off, you may as well re-name the city after him. If he fails, it may tarnish a sterling legacy. We’d joke that there’s no pressure, but of course there is.
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