In the pursuit of Nikita Zaitsev, free-agent defenceman, a little-known scout named Jim Paliafito played the part of successful starting pitcher.
He worked the first several innings, did all the necessary diligence on Zaitsev, before Brendan Shanahan and Lou Lamoriello came out of the Toronto Maple Leafs’ front-office bullpen and closed the deal at a Moscow restaurant.
“Imagine you’re Nikita, and you’re out to dinner with your parents and with Jim to talk about the Leafs. And then who walks in to the restaurant: Lou and Brendan? Think of what that feels like. A Hall of Fame general manager and a Hall of Fame player. And they’ve come to see you. I think at that point it was like, deal done,” said Zaitsev’s agent, Dan Milstein.
“I represent a lot of Russian players, and here’s what I tell the GMs I deal with: If you want my player, you have to jump on a plane, you have to make your pitch in person. Because that’s what Lou Lamoriello does.”
The chase of the European free agent all starts from the Maple Leaf end with Paliafito, the Leafs’ Director of Player Evaluation, his name one that is rarely mentioned in hockey circles. His job is to watch available players, find out about them, track them, engage them, do research on them, and meet them, their families and their agents. And then do it all again.
“Jimmy played a huge role in Nikita signing in Toronto,” said Milstein, who took over from Zaitsev’s original agent, Mike Liut. “Jimmy found him, identified him, kept in touch with him regularly.”
“He did everything for me,” said Zaitsev. “He did a huge job to bring me here. He’s an unbelievable guy.”
