The Toronto Maple Leafs hired longtime and legendary, hall of fame general manager of the New Jersey Devils, Lou Lamoriello nine years ago this week.
He had a relatively short tenure when all is said and done, being in charge from July 23rd, 2015 until May 1st 2018. Even to this day, the reign of Lamoriello is very divisive.
The process was unorthodox with Maple Leafs President Brendan Shanahan already having hired the head coach Mike Babcock.
Along with him the team already had the front office specifically hand picked with Mark Hunter and Kyle Dubas sharing the GM duties up until this point.
At the time, it felt like the final puzzle piece was put in place from the front office down to the coaching staff.
All the team needed was a proper rebuild to commence and the team would be back to cup contention.
The plan worked, as the Leafs have been a competitive team ever since. Bad luck, circumstances and some managerial errors (By Lamoriello, Dubas and Treliving) prevented the Leafs from winning it all so far, but it can't be ignored that they have had, and are still in the midst of, the longerst streak of icing competitive teams in the history of a 100+ year-old franchise.
Although the team has found great regular season success, things have not come together in the postseason. I decided now is a good time to look back at the good, the bad, and the ugly of Lou Lamoriello's tenure with the Leafs.