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Leafs Front Office 2026-27

CarltonTheBear said:
I know I've said that we shouldn't put a significant amount of stock in the early names being thrown around, but I do think we're headed toward a Gillis+Mehta hiring. Or at least one of them.
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That's what I want, but I am setting my expectations to very neutral because this team has hurt me so much already for most of my life lol

Bender said:
How do we feel about Gillis? He hasn't been around for a loooong time.
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If you read his now slightly dated, and never fully implemented plan for the Presidency of the Penguins hockey ops, you should be able to see basically a much more seasoned Kyle Dubas, to the point where I'm wondering how much of what Dubas tried to build was cribbed from Laurence Gilman/Mike Gillis. His self-imposed Sabbatical from any other stops in the interim were due to level of autonomy, and one could easily argue that being away from the game isn't as much of an issue at the President level. Fair point if it was about the GM level though.

Here's what Gillis has been up to since he was punted from the Canucks:
theprovince.com

Mike Gillis to the Toronto Maple Leafs? Never say never

The ex-Vancouver Canucks GM has been linked to the Toronto Maple Leafs. He'd be a perfect hire for an organization that's always under pressure.
theprovince.com theprovince.com
He spent time at the NHLPA, at one point looking like he’d be Donald Fehr’s successor until the players chose to go with the politics-focused Marty Walsh.

So while he hasn’t landed in a conventional hockey position, he’s still kept busy. He’s gone around the world, literally, seeking out new ideas from just about any sport. He travelled to Australia to learn about the physical challenges of Australian rules football and how teams and athletes get through games that see the best players run 17.5 kilometres, sometimes in scorching heat. He went to New Zealand to learn about how the All Blacks rugby team are world-leaders in building team culture. He went to Spain to learn about Barcelona’s famed soccer academy. He went to Switzerland to learn about the work the Biotech Institute has been doing in things like cognitive science. He met with business school professors to learn more about organizational behaviour.
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Last edited:
www.pensionplanpuppets.com

Ways of Building: More layers than a cake

Let's do pyramid power again.
www.pensionplanpuppets.com www.pensionplanpuppets.com
I think Brad Treliving's biggest failure was in setting an identity and culture as a concept in his mind, getting a lot of players who could do the identity actions that would entail, along with some who were odd fits, but then getting a coach who understood the goal, understood the ideology of how they were supposed to get to the "score a goal, one more than them" point, but could not actually produce a process and a set of procedures at ice level that would take anyone there.
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Emphasis mine; basically this is why the players underperformed.
 
herman said:
That's what I want, but I am setting my expectations to very neutral because this team has hurt me so much already for most of my life lol



If you read his now slightly dated, and never fully implemented plan for the Presidency of the Penguins hockey ops, you should be able to see basically a much more seasoned Kyle Dubas, to the point where I'm wondering how much of what Dubas tried to build was cribbed from Laurence Gilman/Mike Gillis. His self-imposed Sabbatical from any other stops in the interim were due to level of autonomy, and one could easily argue that being away from the game isn't as much of an issue at the President level. Fair point if it was about the GM level though.

Here's what Gillis has been up to since he was punted from the Canucks:
theprovince.com

Mike Gillis to the Toronto Maple Leafs? Never say never

The ex-Vancouver Canucks GM has been linked to the Toronto Maple Leafs. He'd be a perfect hire for an organization that's always under pressure.
theprovince.com theprovince.com
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Maybe he makes sense as a president guy. I looked at some of his hockey trades and they look pretty pedestrian.
 
Bender said:
Maybe he makes sense as a president guy. I looked at some of his hockey trades and they look pretty pedestrian.
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I think so too. But he also seems to have that knack for creating a gestalt environment. Some of those meh acquisitions overperformed in the Vancouver system, which is what Tampa and Florida and Boston have been feasting on for the entire Shanahan era of the Leafs (and then some).

It’s more important than pretty much every individual player (other than some generational 1C/D/G that enables more flexibility), especially in a hard cap environment, to have a system in place where under-utilized/appreciated players who match the style of play can find the tools and opportunity to flourish.

Nothing will grow right in a shallow gravel garden (except for useless weeds).
 
I don't know why I do this to myself, but I was listening the Kypreos show yesterday and it's almost hilarious what a contrarian he is. And I do like that Bourne and McKee just don't take his shit anymore.

That being said, he was going on about Mehta not being impressive because he had little to do with Florida winning cups and if really was any good there's no way Florida would let him leave. Because that's how it works apparently.

Personally I have no feelings one way or the other on Mehta. I know nothing about him. But classic Kypreos shit take. I guess it's working because like an idiot, I listened to his show.
 
Joe S. said:
I don't know why I do this to myself, but I was listening the Kypreos show yesterday and it's almost hilarious what a contrarian he is. And I do like that Bourne and McKee just don't take his shit anymore.

That being said, he was going on about Mehta not being impressive because he had little to do with Florida winning cups and if really was any good there's no way Florida would let him leave. Because that's how it works apparently.

Personally I have no feelings one way or the other on Mehta. I know nothing about him. But classic Kypreos shit take. I guess it's working because like an idiot, I listened to his show.
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I more took it as there's a group of fans who already are annointing Mehta because he's part of the Panthers who assume he had an outsized role. To me he's more saying we shouldn't conflate Mehta with Zito. But yeah he zagged too far in the other direction.
 
Agreed. I think Gillis sounds more interesting in the Presidents role as I hear it. Mirtle also mentioned that the analytics team is good, just they weren't relied on much, which might be why Pelley said the data-driven bit at his presser. I do like the idea of poaching from the Panthers though.
 
Admittedly, I enjoy listening to Kyper and Bourne....mostly for Bourne and Mckee.

Noone is going to be a perfect hire. Whether Mehta is a a big or little part of the Panthers organization is a moot point. Any work that he does right now will be done under the direction of his superiors. If Mehta is fully in charge, he might try and acquire 20 Nick Robertson's....or acquire 20 Simon Benoit's. It's a different job when you are the man in the hot seat.

I like that it at least looks like we are trying to do this the right way and make good decisions.
 
https://twitter.com/x/status/2042238715326607579
IT'S ON

Zito might lose some front office talent with all these GM openings, but one thing he’s said over the years is that he won’t forget how, when he was assistant GM with the Columbus Blue Jackets, GM Jarmo Kekalainen gave permission to teams when asked to talk to him about GM openings. [...]
He’s always been appreciative of the Jackets allowing him to go for those interviews. And now he’s clearly doing the same for his staff.
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New Jersey probably has the edge considering Mehta's connection there already. It'd be a little ironic seeing them hire both Shanahan and Mehtra though, as well as having Keefe still there for the time being. Almost Leafs 2.0. It's possible that benefits the Leafs though if Mehta thinks he could co-exist with a potential POHO like Gillis more than Shanny.
 
CarltonTheBear said:
New Jersey probably has the edge considering Mehta's connection there already. It'd be a little ironic seeing them hire both Shanahan and Mehtra though, as well as having Keefe still there for the time being. Almost Leafs 2.0. It's possible that benefits the Leafs though if Mehta thinks he could co-exist with a potential POHO like Gillis more than Shanny.
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I'll be pissed if NJ picks him up...
 
Bender said:
I'll be pissed if NJ picks him up...
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If you try and look at it objectively, I feel like the “better” job in terms of what you can do is probably NJ. More assets to make changes etc.

But then against that, your big thing is if you’re the guy who finally wins the Leafs something…

I dunno which job I’d take if I was in for both tbh.
 
CarltonTheBear said:
I get the timing was bad for when Dubas wasn't extended but man the last GM search literally consisting of just talking to Treliving and Bergevin is wild.
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I think it might be uglier than that.

Treliving resigned from Calgary April 2023 prior to the end of his contract June 30 (for which the Calgary ownership holds some grudge to this day).

Mirtle indicated he heard someone told him to watch for Treliving to the Leafs on March 10, 2023 (Leaf Report Podcast May 19, 2023 ~18:00 in), in the midst of a quiet, but public fracture between Shanahan and Dubas throughout the 2022/23 season, where Shanahan stopped appearing at games. So I'm just spitballing, but Shanahan was probably already shopping for a new GM while they let Dubas play out the string of his final year. And if you're familiar with Brendan's history, he's not opposed to shopping the under-contract market.
 
I like the prospect of Mehta and he is currently my top GM choice. Toronto should hold significant appeal given the $$$$$$$$$$$$ and the glory and the challenge it represents to a former pro-poker player.

NJD gave him his first real start under Lou Lamoriello of all people (had consulting gig with Phoenix/Arizona prior) and Jersey is basically where he grew up, so it was smart of the Devils to clear the deck there and make a solid pitch.

That said, I think there are more good data-inclined AGM/GM options out there than there are HOHOs with an architect-like vision and managerial experience, and it's not the end of the world if the Leafs have to pursue a different avenue. That they're even interested in a profile like Mehta's is reassuring (for now).
 
herman said:
I like the prospect of Mehta and he is currently my top GM choice. Toronto should hold significant appeal given the $$$$$$$$$$$$ and the glory and the challenge it represents to a former pro-poker player.

NJD gave him his first real start under Lou Lamoriello of all people (had consulting gig with Phoenix/Arizona prior) and Jersey is basically where he grew up, so it was smart of the Devils to clear the deck there and make a solid pitch.

That said, I think there are more good data-inclined AGM/GM options out there than there are HOHOs with an architect-like vision and managerial experience, and it's not the end of the world if the Leafs have to pursue a different avenue. That they're even interested in a profile like Mehta's is reassuring (for now).
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Leafs can get him hot. Show him what they got.
 
I really don't get the criticism around this. If Pelley was trying to do this all by himself everyone would be whining about how he doesn't have any experience in the hockey world to make the best decision.
 
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