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Leafs Front Office 2026-27

I have bad news for Leafs fans. Keith Pelley did not do a good job with the moves he made while President of Rogers Media. The fact he wanted input on roster decisions if preposterous. Good luck Leaf fans, I think we now know why we are in this situation.

This team desperately needs a President of Hockey Ops. Pelley needs to be nowhere near this team. Stick to the business of MLSE.

mapleleafshotstove.com

"More and more, as the year evolved, Keith Pelley wanted to inject himself into hockey operations" -- Darren Dreger on the Brad Treliving firing

On Insider Trading, Darren Dreger provided his intel on the Maple Leafs’ dismissal of Brad Treliving, Keith Pelley’s involvement in hockey operations, and the pool of candidates for the Leafs’ vacant GM job. Dreger on the timing of Brad Treliving’s dismissal: Ultimately, it came to a meeting...
mapleleafshotstove.com mapleleafshotstove.com
 
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Joe S. said:
For me personally I just found him painful to listen to because he just sounds like every bank executive I've worked under with his nknwswnse speak.

But on the flip side, when asked direct questions, I kinda like that he didn't bullshit and just said 'i'm not answering that'
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He’s a CEO; that’s his training. I agree he did come alive handling questions rather than reading the prepared script.

He knows he’s not a hockey person and he mentioned in his role that he basically wants to set it up so that he doesn’t need to get involved. The Leafs needed his involvement because the people he inherited ended up fracturing the office. His major error is not diagnosing it earlier and giving them too much benefit of the doubt.
 
I somewhat jokingly brought this name up earlier but considering Pelley gave the Sabres a shoutout I wouldn't be shocked if Kevyn Adams was at least given an interview here.
 
CarltonTheBear said:
www.nytimes.com

Maple Leafs GM search: An early list of candidates

Brad Treliving is out. Who will take over? A very early list of potential candidates to lead the Maple Leafs.
www.nytimes.com www.nytimes.com
www.sportsnet.ca

What's next for Predators after Trotz steps down as GM?

What does Barry Trotz's departure mean for the Nashville Predators? Josh Beneteau answers that question from a few different angles.
www.sportsnet.ca www.sportsnet.ca
www.allaboutthejersey.com

The Path Forward: Step 1, Find a New Front Office

A Comprehensive Guide to GM Options. (Assuming The Devils Do The Right Thing)
www.allaboutthejersey.com www.allaboutthejersey.com

A handful of names I plucked from these articles that would be interesting: Doug Armstrong, Jason Spezza, Rob Blake, Sunny Mehta (FLA AGM), Brett Peterson (FLA AGM), Kevin McDonald (COL AGM), Scott White (DAL AGM).

I've already talked about Mehta and he's probably be my top choice right now. Spezza would be interesting... getting a Dubas taught GM to come back to fix all this mess. Rob Blake would maybe be my top "retread" choice... I think he did a really good job with LA but just couldn't get past McDavid+Draisaitl.

A couple of the articles also mention going the player agent route, which has become a little more common lately. Maybe pull an Edmonton and put Matthews' agent in charge with Judd Moldaver. Or go crazier with Darren Ferris... better with us than against us right?
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I’m liking the Mehta idea more the more I read. I think he’s exactly the sort of GM that’s needed.

I don’t mind if the Leafs feel they need some kind of old school president figure above him like an Armstrong, as long as the GM has the requisite level of power to do what needs done.

I think all this talk of misalignment that’s been going on this season is interesting. Makes it even more important I think that they get the GM sorted then let him have the major say in the coaching replacement.
 
herman said:
https://twitter.com/x/status/2039062843387990215
Doesn’t want to get in the weeds, but is way more up to date on prospects in the Atlantic than I am lol
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I'd have to listen to it again but I think he's misrepresenting the answer here - there was no direct questions about Kent Hughes. Pelley brought up the Canadiens and Sabres unprompted.

On another note, I'm wondering if Pelley knows these names because he inadvertently gave away the player name involved in the knies discussions.
 
I have a mixed reaction to his PC

He talked about what a good hockey man Trelving is and then basically trashed what he'd done as GM to justify firing him. I'm not arguing with the results. It is sort of hard to have both but he was trying to be nice about it. I don't hate Treliving. I just don't think he's a very good GM.

I've seen/heard some criticism of Pelley for being around the trade deadline. Treliving was in a desperate place. Pelley was protecting the team's assets - which is part of his job. The writing was on the wall well before that point. Replacing him is not like they can run out and quickly hire another cashier for the grocery store. So they held their nose, tightened the reins and marked time. Treliving seemed to know he was doomed at that point if not well before.

Pelley seems open to any structure - GM alone or President, GM & hockey ops or somewhere in between. I don't mind that if it is accurate.
I'm also glad to hear about the continued interest in data evidence to help make decisions. I can't imagine any other way these days - it is still a somewhat new frontier.

He did talk about feeling they had some assets to make it back to the playoffs so my sense is that he's leaning towards a retooling rather than a rebuild - though he left room for the new GM there. In terms of the best chance to win a Cup, I think that's Fool's Gold to line their pockets and to try to keep Matthews around. Matthews will make that decision for them.

Berube's future will ultimately be decided by ownership who will very likely back their new GM on whatever they decide.

Question of the Day: how long before the media suggests more than 50 GM candidates for the job? :)
 
Next year will be make or break for Matthews. His two worst years were under Berube. If he can't get back to being a top goal scorer under a new coach, it's either blame the knee surgery or come to terms that he suddenly went into a decline.

At least next year there will be reasons to watch! God this year has been awful on every level.
 
ZBBM said:
At least next year there will be reasons to watch! God this year has been awful on every level.
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I think right now today is actually the most excited I’ve been about the Leafs in about 2 years, maybe 3. Certainly this season needs no further explanation. Last season, despite the record, was genuinely to me not much better. You could just tell there were many problems but they were papered over by the goalies and the record was not representative of what I was watching.

I did not find last seasons leafs to be a watchable team at all.

The reason now is exciting is they have an opportunity to correct the direction. I just now have to hope they don’t balls up this opportunity. I think I’d even enjoy next season as a losing season if at least you could see there was a plan and direction to what was going on.
 
Tried watching the presser on YouTube, couldn't make it through, Pelley sounded like a complete moron I stopped partway through. When he was saying "well we didn't expect Buffalo and Montreal to be good!", I couldn't believe it. MLSE is a mess and I don't see things getting any better for the Leafs any time soon
 
mapleleafshotstove.com

Keith Pelley on whether the Leafs should tank harder than they are: "We won't do that... That changes the integrity of the Toronto Maple Leafs... If fans are angry with that, I respect that, but we will not tank"

MLSE President & CEO Keith Pelley discussed fan attendance, tanking, the path back to contention, and the Leafs’ search for the next head of hockey operations. Fan attendance has gone down. Ticket prices are up. Are you pushing your fans to the limit in certain ways, given how the season has...
mapleleafshotstove.com mapleleafshotstove.com

Scrum transcript
 
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