Toronto Maple Leafs: The Newfoundland Growlers are Born

Last week, the Toronto Maple Leafs finalized plans to move the franchise’s ECHL affiliate from the sunny coasts of Florida to the great white north.

Following 6 years of existence, featuring a collection of hockey’s most vibrant jerseys, the relationship between the Leafs and Orlando Solar Bears is no more. Instead, the parent franchise now takes its talents to the Maritimes.

Just like that, the Newfoundland Growlers are born!

New Structure

Returning another Toronto affiliate to Canada projects as Kyle Dubas’ first concrete step towards painting the organization in his image.

One of Dubas’ long-reported goals is the establishment of a minor league pipeline structure akin to baseball’s within the Leafs developmental system.

In this case, the AHL and ECHL represent Triple-A and Double-A respectively.

To Dubas, the AHL and ECHL levels aren’t mere dumping grounds for bubble assets. Rather, they’re legitimate organizational rungs. Each conducting operations under the collective umbrella of the Leafs.

It’s a shrewd avenue to follow, as the majority of NHL teams have yet to maximize their various affiliates to their fullest potential. In consolidating the three distinct branches within a relatively local vicinity, a sense of uniformity is fostered.

Regardless of where each player places on their respective development curves, they become indoctrinated within the organization’s overarching plan from day one.

It’s undoubtedly difficult to remain on the same page when a chasm of 2,062 kilometres separates the ECHL affiliate from its parent clubs. Despite the wonderful advances in teleconferencing technology, such distance presents the opportunity for diversion to arise.

Instead, with all organizational branches now under the same flag, Dubas can accurately keep his finger on each pulse, moulding the process to his liking.

Logistics

Logistically, this just makes sense.

The success behind the Marlies and Leafs’ relationship can, in large part, be attributed to the intimate proximity linking the two clubs. Such flexibility allows the Leafs to conduct personnel decisions in a completely free manner.

Plugging in assets left and right, they’re comforted by the knowledge that, barring unforeseen circumstances, reinforcements await just 5 minutes down the road.

In the Marlies’ case, the uncapped tenancy of AHL rosters necessitates constant personnel movement. In 2017-18, 10 different Solar Bears earned AHL call-ups. And more than a few shuffled in between levels on multiple occasions.

With the average flight between Orlando and Toronto lasting 2 hours and 45 minutes, that’s an unnecessary excess of travel. Especially when accounting for time spent clearing customs.

That’s precisely the type of inefficiency guaranteed to irk Dubas.

Staff

This morning brought with it the announcement of Ryan Clowe’s hiring as Growlers’ head coach.

Aside from Clowe’s qualifications (we’ll get to those in a second), take a gander at the specific wording of the above tweet. Particularly, “the Toronto Maple Leafs have named Ryan Clowe as the first Head Coach in Growlers franchise history”.

“The Toronto Maple Leafs have named…” 

Hmmm.

It’s becoming very clear that this is a team operating directly under the watchful eye of its parent club. Rather than announcing their NHL affiliation and then proceeding to hire their own coach, the Leafs themselves appear set to assume the talent acquisition responsibilities.

As such, Dubas can now install a coaching and management staff of his own distinct choosing. From top to bottom, he’ll handpick the various voices responsible for guiding the organization’s prospects smoothly through their development.

In fact, doing so has eliminated any possibility of an ideological divide. From the moment they first step into the fold, young players will see their skills refined by a select staff of Dubas explicit liking.

He was granted such authority in hiring Sheldon Keefe. And that seemed to turn out well.

Qualifications

As for Clowe, obtaining his services is cause for celebration. In accepting the Growlers job, Clowe voluntarily vacated his assistant coaching position for the New Jersey Devils.

Walking away from a secure gig on an NHL club to assume complete authority of an ECHL bench is notable. In fact, it’s a testament to the aspirations of this individual. Forfeiting the chance of overseeing the talents of Taylor Hall and Nico Heischer for the purpose of acquiring head coaching experience says one thing.

You’re hungry. And, hungry professionals tend to execute their duties at the highest calibre.

Clowe is 35-years-old. Now three years removed from active NHL duty. If anyone can relate to the various hiccups permeating a young players development, it’s him. Having an experienced professional, one who appears to have embraced hockey’s new wave of thinking, overseeing the initial stages of the development process is a great thing.

At the very least, it should allow Leafs fans to rest easier at night.

Next: The Marlies are Calder Cup Champions

The Growlers may only be an ECHL team. But, their role and structure within the bigger picture of the Leafs is unquestionably important.