The Athletic’s James Mirtle believes Maple Leafs feeling pressure to name next GM

The Toronto Maple Leafs’ search for their next general manager remains, and with the calendar now flipping to May, the pressure to find their ideal candidate amplifies.

“I think they’ve talked to a ton of people, but I think you can also question, did they do their due diligence in terms of going to other teams and people that are under contract with other teams, trying to pry someone out of there. This isn’t always easy to do, especially with some of the best teams playing and being active in the playoffs. I think you can question that part of it for sure, but they talked to a ton of assistant general managers over Zoom and video before cutting it to in-person,” Mirtle said.

“Reality is, they’ve been working on this for a little more than a month now, since Brad Treliving was let go. They’re on a bit of a timeline; they need to get ready for the draft, and they need to start making a plan for the offseason. What are they going to do in free agency? What kind of trades are they going to make? They need to try and get players like William Nylander and Auston Matthews on board with that plan. I think they are feeling the pressure of a timeline right now, and that’s why there’s going to be an announcement relatively soon. I wonder if that’s maybe why the process wasn’t as thorough as you’d like it to be.”

One name that was listed among the three finalists for the role is current Dallas Stars assistant general manager Scott White. White has held this role since the 2016-17 season, on a Stars team that has made the playoffs eight times during that span. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman has predicted that Chayka is seen as the favourite for the role, but Mirtle wasn’t as quick to rule out White.

“Scott White hasn’t been told he’s out of the process. Either that means that there’s some kind of offer there, whether it’s going to be a three-headed monster, and they all have different titles and work together,” Mirtle said. “They might not be sure if Mats Sundin or Chayka are 100% going to get confirmed by the board or be able to reach a contract, and they need Scott White as a backup option. So there’s still a little bit of a question whether White is going to be part of this or not. He’s a name I would feel pretty good about bringing in because you look at a lot of the best GMs in the league, they were assistant GMs with good organizations for long periods of time.”

As previously mentioned, a Sundin-Chayka combination has been reported as the most likely scenario for the next leaders of the Maple Leafs. Domi has been linked to Sundin and Chayka, as he built personal relationships with them over the course of his life. Last season, Domi recorded 36 points in 80 games, leaving some to question if the Maple Leafs would look to get out of the remaining two years of the 31-year-old’s contract.

“Chayka and Domi are really close. They’ve been close since Domi was with the London Knights, and they were really good friends. They were together in Arizona when Chayka was the GM, so I would be surprised if Domi was going anywhere,” Mirtle said. “With his contract, the season he had, and his no-trade clause, he probably is not going anywhere, but this just adds even more job security for him.”

Leave a Reply Cancel reply