With the exception of the NHL Draft Lottery this Saturday, the item on top of Toronto Maple Leafs Team President Brendan Shanahan to-do list is the search for a new general manager.
As he indicated in his state-of-the-club press conference on Monday, Shanahan will not add the GM title to his area of responsibility but wants to have day-to-day input on the direction of the club and is looking for someone who would fit into the current management structure with assistant GM Kyle Dubas, Director Of Player Personnel Mark Hunter and Brandon Pridham.
Dubas and Hunter will be in the mix for the position, but according to Sportsnet’s Eliotte Friedman, the number of external candidates for the job is growing by the day.
The possibilities include former Washington GM George McPhee, LA Kings VP of Hockey Operations Mike Futa, Nashville Asst GM Paul Fenton and Tampa Bay assistants Julien BriseBois and Pat Verbeek.
McPhee served as GM with the Caps for 17 years before being dismissed last May and hired Hunter’s brother Dale to replace Bruce Boudreau in 2011 and would provide the experience and contacts that former GM Dave Nonis had.
Futa (a Toronto native) has been in Los Angeles for eight years as their Head of Amateur Scouting after serving as GM of the OHL’s Owen Sound Attack and was promoted to VP of Hockey Ops last season. He is credited with building up the Kings organization through some astute drafting.
Fenton has long been a number of short lists for an NHL management position, serving ably as David Poile’s right-hand man in Nashville and is connected to Hunter from their playing days in Calgary. The Predators have been one of the best clubs at drafting and developing their own players, which is the direction that the Leafs are going to.
Brisebois and Verbeek are considered rising stars in management circles as assistants to Tampa GM Steve Yzerman. Brisebois won two AHL Championships in Hamilton and Norfolk, Verbeek has connections to Shanahan from their playing days in New Jersey and Detroit and to Hunter with the Hartford Whalers.
The Leafs also have interest in former NHL goaltender Sean Burke to the organization(another former Shanahan teammate), but the former Arizona Coyotes goaltending coach is likely not a candidate for GM.
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Watch Tuesday’s edition of Leaf Buzz with Rotowire’s Paul Bruno as we discuss the end of the season and the changes in Leaf Land:
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