Toronto Maple Leafs Hire Former Panthers Asst. GM Eric Joyce

On October 28th, the Toronto Maple Leafs hired former Florida Panthers assistant general manager Eric Joyce. He will be the new Director of Hockey Strategy.

This signing is one of a few the Toronto Maple Leafs have made this offseason. The team has also added Paul Maclean and Manny Malhotra to work behind the bench with head coach Sheldon Keefe.

Joyce has spent the last six seasons working within the Panthers organization as both assistant to the GM and as an assistant GM. While working as an assistant to the GM, he had the responsibility of overseeing the Panthers AHL affiliate. According to eliteprospects.com, that would include the San Antonio Rampage, Portland Pirates, and the Springfield Thunderbirds.

It would be safe to assume that at some point, while Joyce was fulfilling his duties at the AHL level, he must have had a few conversations with Kyle Dubas. The Toronto Maple Leafs current GM was the GM of the Toronto Marlies in the AHL during the time that Joyce was working in the AHL.

The Background On Eric Joyce

Joyce spent four years playing for the Army Black Knights at West Point on a hockey scholarship. He served in Iraq and taught counterterrorism classes before being hired by Vinnie Viola, the owner of the Panthers, who also happens to be a former military man himself.

He has a Bachelor of Science Degree in System Engineering from West Point and a Master’s Degree in Public Policy from Harvard University. He is a highly intelligent man who also understands the game of hockey.

What Eric Joyce Brings To The Toronto Maple Leafs

Just like the Leafs GM, Joyce is very pro analytics and relies on it heavily when scouting players. He gives the team another smart person who can help with decision making when it comes to adding players to the organization.

The Toronto Maple Leafs have a pretty stacked front office full of smart individuals, so I’m sure one more can’t hurt. During an interview Joyce did back in 2016, he was quoted as saying “The more dedicated and smart people you put into a room to make those big decisions, the better those decisions are going to be.” 

As the director of hockey strategy, Joyce will be asked regularly for his opinion on players. That will include players already in the organization and those on other teams that the Leafs have interest in. The following are two quotes Joyce gave about what to look for in players back from the 2016 interview.

“When making a decision on any player, all we try to do is look at every angle to get a fuller picture.  Nonetheless, I’ve gone on record to say this in the past: if the stats and the scouts are in a dead heat, and all else is equal, scouts always win the day. Always. Nothing can replace the feel of a good scout.”

“There are three major characteristics we look for in every player we try to acquire. They are: Skating, Hockey IQ and Compete. It doesn’t matter if you’re the most skilled player on our team, or a grinder, you have to be able to compete in the NHL, and competing in the NHL means having grit.”

The one thing that stands out to me is that Joyce is both a statistics guy and a hockey guy. I like that the team has brought in someone who points out that a player’s compete level is a big factor in the decision making on what players to bring in.

Time will tell how well Joyce helps the team, but as a fan I hope it helps out a lot.