A ridiculous amount of chatter has surrounded the Maple Leafs following the dismissal of Brad Treliving as GM. Numerous conspiracy theories have emerged, with some being crazier than the last.
That said, insider Elliotte Friedman ventured to name names in the latest edition of the 32 Thoughts Podcast on Friday. In the episode, Friedman highlighted several names that have been floated among potential candidates for the Leafs’ vacant GM role.
One name that Friedman drilled down on was that of Hayley Wickenheiser. Wickenheiser’s resume speaks for itself. As a hockey player, she’s about as decorated as they come. As a professional, she’s served as a physician.
But it’s her role as an assistant GM for the Maple Leafs that has her potentially getting the insider track on the full-time GM role.
Friedman underscored the fact that Maple Leafs CEO Keith Pelley holds Wickenheiser in high esteem. While the organization will embark on a formal search for Treliving’s replacement, the search may ultimately not go very far.
“I’ve heard that Pelley thinks very highly of Hayley Wickenheiser. And that, one of the people he met with internally was Wickenheiser.”
The comments paint the former Team Canada Olympic captain in an extremely favorable light. It seems as though she would have the inside track on just about anybody looking to interview for the position.
But as Friedman pointed out, nothing is set in stone, at least to the best of his knowledge.
“I don’t know that she’s going to be the next person in charge. I honestly don’t. But I won’t be surprised if that something there appeals to her; she has an elevated role.”
That “elevated role” is something that could catapult the 47-year-old into the GM chair. After all, the need for someone “data-driven” and more in tune with the current game would mean Wickenheiser could be a logical choice.
Friedman doubled down on his assessment, stating that Pelley holds the former Olympic gold medalist in the highest regard.
“I did want to point out that I heard from multiple people that he (Pelley) thinks very highly of her.”
It remains to be seen if Wickenheiser would be the direction the organization wants to go. But one thing is certain: The organization could do much, much, much worse than hiring Wickenheiser. She might very well be that major weapon the Leafs have been looking to deploy.
Maple Leafs looking at more hierarchical structure
One of the other things that Friedman noted was the inclination the Maple Leafs have for hiring separate people in the GM and President of Hockey Operations (POHO) roles. Friedman’s logic is that Treliving had to take care of both roles in a de facto manner this season.
It’s hard to argue against that logic. Treliving had to deal with the day-to-day issues of running the team while also serving the higher-ups in the organization. At the end of the day, pulling double duty like that ended up taking its toll.
That’s why the organization will be looking to hire two different individuals in the GM and POHO roles. From a functional perspective, that makes perfect sense. The POHO would be in charge of translating the day-to-day operations to the higher-ups, like Pelley, while the GM would deal with the ongoing operations from a hockey perspective.
If that’s the case, it seems the organization will first hire the POHO and the trickle down into the GM role. So, it would seem that fans might first hear of the Maple Leafs hiring a new President before getting a full-time person in the GM chair.