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Leafs Front Office 2026-27

What the Montreal/Buffalo surprise remark tells me is that the front office was not competently analyzing their competition, or was reporting things incongruently up the chain (hence the pointed slant towards data-centric, evidence-based management going forward). That’s not really saying anything about Pelley other than how much attention he was paying to the Leafs initially (1st in the Div last season).

The other thing it tells me about Pelley is that he has identified some benchmarks and models of team turnarounds the Leafs ought to at least aim in the general direction of: younger, faster, and a system of play attuned to maximizing the pieces they currently have.

Given their lack of high picks at the moment, It’s a retool until Auston Matthews says otherwise.
 
As I feared, they will flounder for a couple years before doing it right and by then they'll be stuck in a long rebuild. Go Jays!
 
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For me, it really doesn't matter what was said at the presser because they have to follow through with "the plan" regardless. I don't look at it as good or bad. It's all talk. I'll wait and see who they hire before judging. I do agree with him that this team can retool but like Herman said, that will depend on Matthews alone. My guess is he's on board with a retool because Pelley mentioned he talked with him.
The other notable thing for me was the disconnect between all factors of the org. That's not good. Funny thing tho, many smart people on this board mentioned it a few times that the coach and GM didn't seem to be on the same page. We can bet that 34 wasn't on the same page as coach in his deployment either. Willy's comment was insightful to. He said something to the effect of we didn't do a good enough job too. He also had a comment a few months back that took a swipe at management when Savard was fired. Something to the effect of well that's the 1st move.
Anyway let's wait and see who they hire but they def need to lean into the data side of things.
 
The Leafs charge 1000 plus tickets for the kids skating with the flag at the start of games. I hate this organization
 
herman said:
My wishlist from earlier.

President needs to be an elder statesman with cachet around the league, and a track record of executing a vision. This can support a more progressive GM from a talent evaluation background + management experience.
Click to expand...

Hurray for going in this direction.

Either way, this is what I was thinking, and the mega corporation MLSE/Rogers is also thinking similarly:
https://twitter.com/x/status/2039344532693631314

An all-in-one person could be a bit cheaper in the aggregate, but honestly it's nearly impossible to get a technical savant that is ASLO politically savvy. The reverse is possible as well where a stateman is open-minded and develops a technical skillset, but schmoozing (and wrangling the issues and personalities in their purview and above them) takes so much time that their technical bona fides would slip immediately.
 
I actually only got round to watching that press conference. It’s kind of killed my brief shot of enthusiasm.

I thought I’d switched on a live stream of someone reading out their LinkedIn profile.

The vertical alignment wasn’t horizontally aligned. Give me strength.
 
He doesn't know shit about hockey, that's clear. The young teams are getting better and will likely continue to do so. We're going to moneyball the UFA market to close that gap?
 
Bill_Berg said:
As I feared, they will flounder for a couple years before doing it right and by then they'll be stuck in a long rebuild. Go Jays!
Click to expand...
It's like I'm back in 80s again. The Leafs had no hope of going anywhere and the Jays were an exciting team with world series aspirations.
 
The part that bothered me is he wants to be Montreal but has no idea how to get there. Does he not know that they actually bottomed out and rebuilt over a number of years? Also, the idea that rebuilding only happens when you are "starting from scratch" is foolish. What does "starting from scratch" even mean? You can have franchise players that are foundational pieces, but maybe you don't have enough of them. Or maybe they don't fit anymore, or they're aging out etc. Just because you have one or two foundational pieces doesn't tell you much about whether you should retool or rebuild. Moreover, it shouldn't be Pelley deciding whether the retool or rebuild should happen, it should be the President/GM.

He also seems to covet prospects. That's great. How do you think you GET those prospects, Keith? We'll see who they hire and how they structure the team but I really am not overly optimistic.
 
Zee said:
It's like I'm back in 80s again. The Leafs had no hope of going anywhere and the Jays were an exciting team with world series aspirations.
Click to expand...
I don't even remember the Leafs from the 80s, but I remember the Jays. My dad spent more time with team that didn't suck, so it was the team I was exposed to.
 
Bender said:
The part that bothered me is he wants to be Montreal but has no idea how to get there. Does he not know that they actually bottomed out and rebuilt over a number of years? Also, the idea that rebuilding only happens when you are "starting from scratch" is foolish. What does "starting from scratch" even mean? You can have franchise players that are foundational pieces, but maybe you don't have enough of them. Or maybe they don't fit anymore, or they're aging out etc. Just because you have one or two foundational pieces doesn't tell you much about whether you should retool or rebuild. Moreover, it shouldn't be Pelley deciding whether the retool or rebuild should happen, it should be the President/GM.

He also seems to covet prospects. That's great. How do you think you GET those prospects, Keith? We'll see who they hire and how they structure the team but I really am not overly optimistic.
Click to expand...
It makes no sense. He named young players on Montreal and Buffalo. If he wants to retool, it's not going to be with young players, it will be with middling, expensive free agents.

Matthews may or may not rebound to MVP calibre, but where is his support coming from even if he does? If that support dosen't come for a couple more years, will he still be MVP calibre then? Sell high!
 
Bill_Berg said:
I don't even remember the Leafs from the 80s, but I remember the Jays. My dad spent more time with team that didn't suck, so it was the team I was exposed to.
Click to expand...
Oh I remember the Leafs of the 80s. Like an idiot I watched all the games that were televised. Getting into the playoffs with 52 points and thinking they had a chance! lol
 
Bender said:
The part that bothered me is he wants to be Montreal but has no idea how to get there. Does he not know that they actually bottomed out and rebuilt over a number of years? Also, the idea that rebuilding only happens when you are "starting from scratch" is foolish. What does "starting from scratch" even mean? You can have franchise players that are foundational pieces, but maybe you don't have enough of them. Or maybe they don't fit anymore, or they're aging out etc. Just because you have one or two foundational pieces doesn't tell you much about whether you should retool or rebuild. Moreover, it shouldn't be Pelley deciding whether the retool or rebuild should happen, it should be the President/GM.

He also seems to covet prospects. That's great. How do you think you GET those prospects, Keith? We'll see who they hire and how they structure the team but I really am not overly optimistic.
Click to expand...

Of course he has no idea how to specifically get there; he's a CEO, not actually in Hockey Ops.

The purpose of his presser was to acknowledge the delta between the current state and where they needed to be, and sketch out the levers he had control over: (re)establishing the organizational structure that had imploded under Treliving/Berube(/Shanahan) and hiring someone who knows what they're doing in this space.

There is no sense in judging his hockey accumen, or even holding his words to that standard. Pelley said up front he is not trying to get involved, but he is currently involved because the existing direction no longer aligned with the vision for sustainable success.
 
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