***UPDATE -- June 2 5:00 p.m.: THE LEAFS HAVE OFFERED THEIR HEAD COACHING VACANCY TO RON WILSON -- LATE OF THE SAN JOSE SHARKS -- AND ARE EXPECTED TO WRAP UP NEGOTIATIONS SHORTLY. WILSON BEGAN HIS NHL CAREER AS A DEFENCEMAN WITH THE LEAFS IN 1978, AND IS A CLOSE FRIEND OF ANAHEIM GM BRIAN BURKE***
DETROIT (June 2) -- Say what you want about the Toronto Maple Leafs, but give them an 'A' for effort. The scope of the Leafs' quest for a new general manager will encompass more than one-third of the people in a meeting room today at the Detroit Renaissance-Center Marriott -- where all 30 NHL managers gather prior to Game 5 of the Stanley Cup final. At various times in the past three months, Leafs' CEO and search-committee guru Richard Peddie has contacted, or attempted to contact, just about every GM in the league that matches his lofty definition of the role. Which is precisely the direction Peddie insisted he would follow in his pursuit of a man with a "demonstrated track record in the NHL; a proven winner who can be a short-term fixer, and a long-term builder" -- the CEO's hopeful description of the Leafs' next hockey boss.
The list of contacts made by Peddie or his search partner, Gord Kirke, is truly impressive and it includes each of the following:
*Anaheim Ducks (for Brian Burke)
*Buffalo Sabres (for Darcy Regier)
*Carolina Hurricanes (for Jim Rutherford)
*Dallas Stars (for Doug Armstrong)
*Detroit Red Wings (for either Ken Holland, Scotty Bowman, Jim Devellano or Jim Nill)
*Florida Panthers (for Joe Nieuwendyk)
*Minnesota Wild (for Doug Risebrough)
*Nashville Predators (for David Poile)
*New Jersey Devils (for Lou Lamoriello)
*San Jose Sharks (for Doug Wilson)
*Vancouver Canucks (for David Nonis)
And, these are merely the ones I know about. There could be others. It's been suggested in media circles that Peddie was refused permission to talk to most of the abovementioned individuals. But, that's only part of it. In many cases, the object of the Leafs' interest simply passed on word that he had no desire to discuss the vacancy. It doesn't take a genius to understand why none of Risebrough, Poile, Lamoriello or Wilson would be the least-bit attracted to the Toronto job. Peddie has made repeated overtures to the Red Wings' contingent, and has gotten the same response each time. Veteran hockey executive (and former Kings' GM) Dave Taylor is very happy in his role with Dallas, which allows him to spend much of his time in a pro-scouting capacity while living in the Los Angeles area.
What it means is that the Leafs' opening -- the so-called "plum" assignment in the NHL -- is not overly in demand at the moment. At least not among those the Leafs consider most worthy of the position. In fact, it's my sense that only three people would almost certainly take the job. A fourth -- Armstrong -- had virtually no interest in the Leafs' offer of a support role and he signed on with St. Louis late last week. Burke is obviously among those who would readily accept the post, but there is no indication right now when or if he'll be able to squirm free of his committment in Anaheim. The second person is Colin Campbell, the NHL's third-most senior executive (behind commissioner Gary Bettman and deputy commissioner Bill Daly). Though Campbell has kept a low profile, he would clearly like to be interviewed by the Leafs. The third person might surprise you -- Regier.
Buffalo's general manager for the past 11 years was refused permission by owner Tom Golisano to speak with Peddie. Like Burke, Regier has only one year remaining on his current pact. Given his tenure with the Sabres, he is among the lowest-paid GMs in the league (reportedly $900,000 a season), and he'd stand to almost triple that figure in Toronto. The frosty relationship between Regier and Golisano could well end once Regier's contract is up in July, 2009. If not, beforehand. Though Regier took his share of blame for allowing Daniel Briere and Chris Drury to skip town last summer -- thus wrenching the heart out of an exceptional Buffalo club -- it was clearly Golisano's misstep.
Prior to the 2006-07 season, Regier desperately wanted to lock up each player in a long-term agreement. He proposed hefty salary increases for his two best forwards, knowing how important they were to the team. But, Golisano wasn't convinced they were worth Regier's price-tag. It proved to be a greivous miscalculation. The value of Briere and Drury skyrocketed during the '06-07 campaign, in which Buffalo won the Presidents' Trophy with a league-best 113 points. Briere, alone, could have been signed -- in October, 2006 -- for virtually half of the $10-million per season he garnered in free agency with Philadelphia. Instead, both men left Buffalo (Drury for the Rangers), and the Sabres plummeted out of playoff contention this past season.
It should not be a blight on Regier's name. Or his record. Though the Sabres have not won the Stanley Cup, he has simply been one of the top executives in the NHL the past decade. During his tenure, the Sabres have drafted Maxim Afinogenov, Brian Campbell, Dmitri Kalinin, Ales Kotalik, Ryan Miller, Paul Gaustad, Derek Roy, Jason Pominville, Thomas Vanek, Clarke MacArthur and Drew Stafford -- all of whom have either made significant contributions in Buffalo, or are expected to. The necessity to trade Campbell to San Jose was directly tied in with the club's freefall in the absence of Briere and Drury.
When Briere was struggling in Phoenix during the 2002-03 season, Regier had the prescience to trade for him, giving up journeyman forward Chris Gratton. He pilfered Drury from Calgary for Rhett Warrener and Steve Reinprecht in July of '03. Another sound acquisition was forward Jochen Hecht from Edmonton in an exchange of draft picks in July, 2002.
Along with the request to speak with Burke, this was Peddie's most astute overture. It potentially offers the Leafs a couple of prime candidates next summer, if neither man is successful in wiggling free of his contract in the interim. And, it's the reason why so many now believe that Cliff Fletcher will see the club through the 2008-09 campaign. The veritable windfall of experienced managers salivating over the opportunity to run the Leafs simply hasn't materialized. Not even close.
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Money and opportunity will be the guiding forces behind Mats Sundin's decision where to play next season. Retirement seems like a long-shot. And sentiment -- though high on the list of Maple Leaf supporters -- isn't likely to have much of an impact on Sundin.
"Mats hasn't made any decisions, but he most definitely has earned the right to look in any direction he wants if he gets to free agency this summer," Sundin's agent, J.P. Barry, told me in Pittsburgh after Saturday night's fourth game of the Cup final. "He needs to think about what's best for him and his career. At the same time, he'd like to know what's going on with Toronto, but he wants to make the best decision for him, moving forward."
Barry agreed that Sundin does not wish to commit to the Leafs until he is certain the in-coming GM wants to keep him around. If Fletcher remains on the job for another year, it may or may not complicate the situation. "Absolutely, Mats thinks about that," Barry said. "He has no way of knowing whether the people [ultimately] running the Leafs will want him to stay. That's obviously an important consideration, and we'll see how it develops over the next month."
But, the most critical issue could become -- as it so often is -- economics. It doesn't take a big stretch to imagine the Red Wings offering Sundin in the order of $14 million for two years as a free agent. Not only do the Wings have more wiggle room than Toronto under the salary cap, but Sundin would be worth more money to them than the Leafs. Detroit fans can easily envision Sundin as a 1-A centreman, lining up alongside fellow countryman Johan Franzen
Though many Leaf fans would consider this an act of betrayal, Sundin would likely feel more comfortable signing with a team in the Western Conference. The Wings and Leafs tangle only once next season, and the game is here in Detroit. So, Mats would avoid the media circus of playing at the Air Canada Centre (though the Leafs and Wings will face off in their annual home-and-home pre-season set). If Sundin were to sign with Montreal, he would obviously have much more of a potential impact on the Leafs' fortunes. And, the six-game Leafs/Habs season series would provide for endless media fodder.
Asked how much finances are an issue for Sundin, Barry replied: "Money's always an issue when you get to the stage of negotiating a contract. And, Mats deserves to be paid whatever the market will bear. There's certainly a lot of teams that would be interested in him."
It sure sounds different than Sundin's tack of a year ago, when he eagerly took a home-team discount to re-join the Maple Leafs. Time, of course, will tell.
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