Toronto Maple Leafs GM Kyle Dubas moved quickly this week to fill vacancies created by the departures of Lou Lamoriello and Mark Hunter by promoting Brandon Pridham and adding Laurence Gilman as Assistant GM’s, but it is expected that the club will be looking to add another to the club’s management team and could look outside the organization to replace Hunter as director of amateur scouting.
In his “31 Thoughts” column, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman quoted an NHL executive that said the Leafs could pick and choose from a number of candidates originally from the Toronto area who would be intrigued about coming to the Leafs, such as former NHL goalie Sean Burke, former Columbus GM Scott Howson, St. Louis Blues Director of Amateur Scouting Bill Armstrong, Director of Player Personnel Rob DiMaio and Los Angeles Kings Assistant GM Mike Futa.
Burke is currently a pro scout with Montreal, but had a variety of roles including player development and goaltender coach with Arizona and was GM of Team Canada Olympic squad in South Korea, while Howson is with the Edmonton Oilers as their VP of Player Personnel.
Hiring any of these candidates would likely have to wait until after the NHL Draft, since most are privy or directly involved in their team’s scouting and strategy for the draft and free agency.
The most intriguing names are those of Armstrong, DiMaio and Futa. The Blues boast one of the best prospect pools in the NHL with Robert Thomas, Klim Kostin and Jordan Kyrou all in the pipeline.
Futa is well known for his eye for talent and has been with the Kings a dozen years as their head of scouting and Assistant GM, but his name has been connected with recent GM searches in Carolina and Buffalo and was reported in the mix for the Leafs GM job before Brendan Shanahan opted to hire Lamoriello.
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With Hunter’s departure, there is concern that members of the scouting staff that he added will possibly leave the Leafs if Hunter goes to another NHL club after his non-compete agreement expires in mid-July.
One name mentioned by Sportsnet’s Jeff Marek is Florida amateur scout Wes Clark. Clark was one of the first hires by Dubas as GM of the Soo Greyhounds and came on board with the Leafs in 2014 before taking a job with the Panthers in 2016.
Another possible option might be a larger role current Director of Western scouting and former Spokane Chiefs GM Tim Speltz, who has been with the Leafs since 2016 and is close with head coach Mike Babcock.
The chatter has chilled in recent days over the possibility of Toronto bringing in former Carolina GM Ron Francis (who reportedly wants to take off some time after being axed by new Canes owner Thomas Dundon), former Wild GM Chuck Fletcher continues to be mentioned as a possible addition to the staff due to his valuable NHL connections.
While it is uncertain which direction they will go, it is not likely that Dubas and the Leafs are done revamping their front office.
I was saddened to hear this week that Andy Frost’s run at Q107 would be ending this Sunday after over 30 years. I have known Andy since 1997, when I started calling his “Leaf Talk” post-game show and if you ask who made the greatest contribution to my becoming a professional hockey writer, it would be him.
It’s unfortunately a reality that great people who we’ve known for years in the newspaper and radio business are losing their jobs in the ever-changing media world and I hope that we hear Andy’s unmistakable voice somewhere on the airwaves very soon.
Thank you, Mr. Frost
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