Maple Leafs Candidates for "the job"

Since the list of names the Maple Leafs have shown some interest in for the job of running Hockey Operations is getting long, this is a collection of short bios of the people mentioned. Some of this has been in various daily posts or in comments, so skip the Mike Gillis part if you've already read it. The order is not indicative of levels of interest since no one at all knows what that is:

Mike Gillis

Did you know Adam Pelech is his nephew? Me neither.

Gillis is 67, from Sudbury, but he played junior hockey in Kingston. He was drafted fifth overall in 1978 by the Colorado Rockies, and he had a six-year NHL career in Colorado and Boston, with some AHL time mixed in. He retired at age 26.

After hockey he coached at Queen's University, where he also went on to get a law degree. In 1990, he became a player agent working alone and largely out of his home in Kingston. Gillis successfully sued the NHLPA's corrupt head Alan Eagleson for stealing part of his disability insurance. We know today the full extent of Eagleson's crimes, but when Gillis sued, he was taking a bold and unprecedented step that got him counter-sued by Eagleson, and made no friends of the NHL establishment.

This, from 2012, is a fantastic look at who Gillis was at the mid-point of his job in Vancouver.

Inside the Mind of Vancouver Canucks GM Mike Gillis - Vancouver Magazine

Like Billy Beane of Moneyball fame, Canucks GM Mike Gillis has taken an unconventional approach to creating a model sports franchise

Vancouver MagazineBruce Dowbiggin

He instituted a host of player-focused reforms in Vancouver, and also changed the focus on finding players – looking for undrafted talent – and emphasizing skill. All of these things, down to the money spent outside the salary cap on the environment the players work and train in are the things we now consider the strengths of the Leafs.

In 2014, just as the Canucks failed to make the playoffs, Gillis was fired.

Gillis signed a contract extension after the 2011-12 season. There were indications last week he and first-year head coach John Tortorella weren't communicating. Gillis seemed to criticize Tortorella's style in a radio interview, saying he wanted the team to get back to the type of game that got it to the 2011 Cup finals.

"I want us to play upbeat, puck possession, move the puck quickly, force teams into mistakes, high-transition game," Gillis said in an interview with the Team 1040. "I think we have the personnel to do it. If we don't have the personnel to do it, they'll be changed.

"That's my vision, that's how I believe you are going to win in the Western Conference and the National Hockey League. If you look at the top teams in the West, there isn't a lot that separates any of the teams in the West, but the top teams play that way. That's the way we played."

What people will remember is that he hired John Tortorella and traded Roberto Luongo and his massive contract while much controversy surrounded both of those situations.

Gillis was consulting with the NHLPA and was in the running to become the new head when current head Marty Walsh was ultimately hired. Gillis left the PA in December of 2023 when his contract was up.

So what stands out to me about Gillis is that he has had an excitingly varied career, even if all of it, or most of it, revolves around hockey. In many ways, he's been defined by the curveballs life has dealt him starting with his early exit from hockey. But he rolled with it, and that's very impressive.

The description of what Gillis was doing to modernize and professionalize the Canucks in 2012 is precisely what Brendan Shanahan brought to the Leafs two years later. I see a lot of similarities between those two men – hockey guys with some maverick traits. Gillis, though, has that reputation as the guy on the wrong side of the argument that hangs over player agents. Right down to claims he caused the 2005 lockout (personally!) because of the contract he negotiated for Bobby Holik.

LeBrun reports that Gillis has said in the past, he wouldn't want a GM job, more of a president's role. Brendan Shanahan's old job, in other words. I don't think that's where this is headed. I did at first, I thought we'd get a Hockey Man - Nerd Man - Hybrid Coach sort of arrangement, but now I'm not so sure that's a given.

Gillis is a guy who is open to change, to new ways of thinking, and will always be a player-first thinker. Chris Tanev, who was signed out of college by Gillis, called him intense in his post-season interview. He said he had a lot of respect for him, and that with Gillis there is no nonsense.

Brandon Pridham

Pridham, now 52, was promoted to AGM of the Leafs in 2018 under Kyle Dubas after four years with the team and a prior career with the league:

Pridham joined the Leafs from the National Hockey League where he most recently served as Senior Director, Central Registry and Senior Advisor, Central Scouting. He began his career at the NHL in 1999 as a coordinator in NHL Central Scouting. In 15 years with the League, he served in a number of capacities in the Central Scouting and Central Registry departments with duties that included serving as the contact person for NHL General Managers, Assistant General Managers and NHL Executives on issues involving the CBA, salary cap and NHL Central Scouting department.

He is serving now as interim co-GM with Ryan Hardy, and he is originally from Stouffville.

The meme that Brandon Pridham is the only person on earth who can do arithmetic and is a special salary cap genius is a little overblown. His experience with the league is extensive, and his job at the Leafs has been more than "human Cap Friendly".

There were stories that Kyle Dubas wanted to hire him as the GM in Pittsburgh, and also that he interviewed with the Flames. He knows the team, the contracts, the people and he should be considered a serious contender for the job.

Ryan Hardy

Hardy, 40, is from Connecticut and played hockey in the youth system there. He joined the Leafs in 2021 under Kyle Dubas as the Senior Director of Minor League Operations with meant he was the GM of the Marlies and the Newfoundland Growlers. He's currently an AGM as well, and is co-acting GM.

Hardy began his hockey career as an assistant coach at Sacred Heart University in Connecticut when he was 23, but he never played hockey past high school. He worked for the USNTDP team starting in 2013, and after a short stint as a scout with the Bruins became the GM of Chicago Steel in the USHL. Chicago Steel was at the forefront of a push that continues today to make the USHL a league that really competes with Canadian junior hockey. Kyle Dubas was known to scout that team for players to draft or to sign as undrafted free agents.

In 2022 he was named as AGM and GM of the Marlies.

This conversation from his pre-Toronto days gives you a feel for who he is:

The emphasis on Hardy wanting to always learn and always advance is interesting, considering how much he has done that since this conversation.

John Chayka

Chayka is a difficult person to discuss since he's been thoroughly memefied by social media discourse. Someone needs to explain to me why owning some fast food franchises is funny. How dare he run a business! What a loser!

Chayka is also difficult to discuss because he was the guy that tried to moneyball the Arizona Coyotes and ended up cast out of the NHL world after being fired by the Coyotes.

At issue appeared to be whether the team allowed Chayka to pursue another opportunity. Friedman reported that about one month before the divorce, another NHL team reached out to the Coyotes asking for permission to speak to Chayka about a job. The request was initially denied but later permitted, and an offer Chayka couldn’t refuse was made. Friedman reported the Coyotes made it clear the titles “general manager” and/or “president of hockey operations” could not be involved, to prove that Chayka was not making a lateral move.

Chayka’s tenure with the club came under further scrutiny after a hearing on Aug. 6, when the Coyotes acknowledged they had violated the league’s combine testing policy during the 2019-20 season by conducting physical testing on draft-eligible players prior to the event.

At the end of the month, the organization was forced to forfeit its 2020 second-round pick and 2021 first-round selection for its actions. No discipline was handed down on any specific individuals involved in the case.

Chayka lost out on a job with the Devils due to this issue. His ideas about using biometric data to evaluate draft-eligible players are commonplace now in other leagues, but the NHL still imposes its own regime on what can and cannot be tested for at the Combine.

It seems clear now after the dissolution of the Coyotes and the move to Utah that ownership of that team presented some pretty extreme challenges for any GM. But it is Chayka's replacement Bill Armstrong, who is taking the team to the playoffs.

Chayka has always been associated with the so-called analytics movement. This is him back in the day at Sloan:

Of note, the company Stathletes is a project of Meghan Chayka, John's sister, and has been her project with Neil Lane since they were in university.

I find it difficult to separate Chayka the person from all the mythology around him. As an early name in hockey who was interested in evidence-based thinking, he bore the brunt of a lot of boundary policing by the hockey lifers. It is certainly true that the Coyotes were for many years the least successful team – measured however you like – in the NHL.

I know this, he's not in it for the salary.

Ryan Bowness

Bowness, the son of Columbus coach Rick Bowness, is 42, and played in the OHL and Canadian university hockey. He joined the Atlanta Thrashers in 2009 as Team Manager right after he retired from playing. He moved to Winnipeg with the team but took on the role of pro scout.

He has worked for the Penguins as Director of Scouting, the Ottawa Senators as AGM and GM of the AHL team and spent last year with the Islanders as AGM and Director of Player Personnel.

Chris Pronger

Former NHL star, Pronger owned an OHL team for a few years, and acted as advisor (like Shane Doan in Toronto) to the Panthers up to 2020 where he was briefly a VP of Hockey Operations. That is his only managerial experience in hockey.

I don't consider him a serious candidate. For reference, it's interesting to compare his post-playing activities to fellow Flyers player Danny Briere. Briere immediately entered into a mentorship arrangement with the Flyers ownership after he retired and served as a GM of an ECHL team before the Flyers named him their GM. In other words, he went out and learned the job before he had the job.

Pronger is active on social media.

Three Names Mentioned

Three names were mentioned by Elliotte Friedman as people is not sure have been interviewed or will be, but might be.

Gregory Campbell, who has the same role in Florida that Hardy does in Toronto; Ryan Martin, who has that role with the Rangers after a very long career in Detroit; and Ross Mahoney, who has been with the Capitals for over 25 years and is currently an AGM – he came up through the scouting department and his role is draft, prospects, and amateur scouting focused.

That's all for now, if more names come up, I'll try to find out something about them.