New York President and GM Glen Sather has been sending signals to other NHL teams to stay away from Jeff Gorton and the Toronto Maple Leafs are likely not going to get a chance to speak to the Rangers assistant GM about their vacant general manager’s position.
Sather told teams interested in talking to Jeff Gorton until his club was eliminated from the post-season. Boston expressed interest in speaking with Gorton last month about a return to the Bruins (he served as interim GM in 2006 prior to the arrival of Peter Chiarelli) but decided to promote internal candidate Don Sweeney instead.
Toronto is still looking, but according to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, New York is likely not going to allow the Leafs to interview Gorton, as he could be ready to take over as GM with Sather remaining as Team President.
Friedman believes that Tampa assistant Julien Brisebois and Gorton will not be leaving their current situations and that current Leafs Director of Player Personnel Mark Hunter, former Washington GM George Mcphee and LA Kings VP of Hockey Operations Mike Futa are in the mix, but that it is possible that other candidates are flying under the radar.
According to the Toronto Sun’s Steve Simmons, Babcock is lobbying for Hunter to be the GM, but that Team President Brendan Shanahan wants to add an experienced component to the management team and have the former London Knights GM concentrate on scouting.
Much has been made of the unconventional power structure with the Leafs under Shanahan and that Toronto is likely not going to name their new GM until after the NHL Draft. These factors would not lend themselves to McPhee being the choice, since he is free to take the job right now and taking a management role with limitations and strings attached may not be ideal for someone who ran the show with the Capitals for 17 seasons.
Futa appears to fit what the Leafs are looking for. The Toronto native has experience with a full rebuild with the Kings, is respected throughout the league as a talent evaluator, worked with Hunter and Dubas in the OHL as a GM and his intimate involvement with the Draft likely would not make him available until after June 26-27.
A potential stealth candidate could be Brandon Wheat Kings Owner/GM/Coach Kelly McCrimmon, who was mentioned by Babcock at his press conference 10 days ago as having one of the best eyes for hockey talent out there, but again there is the lack of NHL experience.
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Our daily rumor update regarding who will be available for the Leafs pick at #4, Steve Simmons indicates that numerous scouts are saying the Coyotes are leaning towards selecting Erie center Dylan Strome third overall, which would leave Toronto to choose between defenseman Noah Hanifin or London forward Mitch Marner.
The speculation that Arizona is targeting Strome over Hanifin has been in the wind since the big center won the OHL scoring title, but the Coyotes prospect pool is fairly plentiful at forward and selecting the Boston College defenseman would make as much sense for the organization who traded top pairing blueliner Keith Yandle to the Rangers at the trade deadline.
If the word being spread is in hopes of Toronto giving up assets to move up to take Strome, it is not likely to pay off for the Coyotes. With Mark Hunter at the helm for the draft, it is not a stretch for the former Knight GM to pick the Thornhill, ON native that he selected in the first round of the OHL Draft two years ago.
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With the Leafs attempting to wipe the slate clean, you can expect among them to try to add players by any means necessary. Such was the case late in the season with the signings of KHL winger Nikita Soshnikov and college free agent Casey Bailey and this summer it may be Toronto pursuing unsigned NCAA prospects.
If the player turns pro and does not sign with the team that drafted them by August 15, they are free to sign with another club.
University of Minnesota defenseman Mike Reilly and University of Michigan forward Zach Hyman have already made the Columbus Blue Jackets and Florida Panthers aware that they will not sign with them prior to the August 15th deadline, which frees both players to sign entry-level deals with another NHL club. but both clubs have until then to trade their exclusive negotiating rights.
Reilly led the University of Minnesota with 42 points in his junior season and played well for the bronze medal-winning Team USA at the World Championships earlier this month, which could have only raised the stock of the 22-year-old blueliner to teams like Chicago and Minnesota.
Hyman had 22 goals and 32 assists for the University of Michigan in his senior year and a number of teams(including the Leafs) are interested in the Toronto native, which could give the Panthers enough leverage to extract a low-to-mid round pick in a deal before August. Toronto Assistant GM Kyle Dubas advised Hyman prior to his tenure as GM in Sault-Ste-Marie.
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