Mike Rupp endorses Leafs’ push to add former players to front office mix: Leafs Morning Take
The wait continues on the Leafs’ GM search as Round 1 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs rolls on.
That’s where the conversation started on the Thursday edition of Leafs Morning Take. From an entertainment standpoint, the opening round has been electric. It’s had a bit of everything. We discussed Andrei Vasilevskiy suddenly looking human in recent postseasons, and how that’s helped put Montreal up 3-2 and leave Tampa, a perennial contender, on the ropes. Elsewhere, we broke down Vegas’ double OT win over Utah, as well as Philadelphia eliminating Pittsburgh in six games thanks to a Cam York OT winner, sending the Flyers to Round 2 for a matchup with Carolina.
As mentioned, there’s not much new to report regarding Toronto’s GM search. We discussed the growing Sundin–Chayka buzz, what it could mean, and Tie Domi’s involvement in the process. From there, we continued the conversation around the idea of bringing former players—like Domi and Darcy Tucker—into the mix to help round out the organization. We also dug into Chayka’s track record, including the well-known Shane Doan situation in Arizona, which naturally led to questions about Doan’s potential future in Toronto. Rosie also shared a personal experience dealing with Chayka — and let’s just say it wasn’t exactly a professional one. Finally, we looked at where things stand with Scott White, who, according to multiple reports, has not been told he’s out of the running just yet—unlike Mike Futa, who has been informed he’s no longer in consideration.
After that, Stanley Cup champion Mike Rupp stopped by to weigh in on the latest Leafs buzz, including the potential Sundin–Chayka front office pairing and Toronto’s interest in leaning on former players in key roles. Rupp also praised NHL Network colleague Mike Johnson, calling him “one of the brightest minds in our game,” while suggesting Craig Berube deserves another shot behind the Leafs bench. He also touched on Auston Matthews and the bigger-picture questions facing the organization moving forward.
No announcement is expected this week, but regardless, we’ll have you covered. Don’t forget, too, the draft lottery is on Tuesday as well. Suffice it is to say, be sure to tune into the Friday edition of Leafs Morning Take for the very latest.