From Friedman’s 31 Thoughts;
“14. With Brandon Pridham promoted and Laurence Gilman hired, the Maple Leafs are now looking to replace Mark Hunter’s spot in the organization. There’s a ton of interest. As Jeff Marek pointed out, a lot of the educated guessing surrounds Wes Clark, and we’re not talking about the retired U.S. Army General. Clark, 35, was Dubas’s first hire at OHL Sault Ste. Marie and later came to Toronto. He left for the Florida Panthers in 2016, where he is an amateur scout. (Cue the conspiracy music — he’s also tight with John Tavares.)
One NHL exec — who isn’t interested in the position — said that if the Maple Leafs wanted, they could simply draw up a list of people with local connections who would probably love to come back. Off the top of his head, he threw out Sean Burke (played for the old OHL Marlies, now with Montreal), Mike Futa (Toronto-born, Los Angeles), Scott Howson (Toronto-born, Edmonton) and two from the St. Louis front office, Bill Armstrong and Rob DiMaio, both of whom live in the city. Another GM wondered if Dubas will keep two of Hunter’s lieutenants, Lindsay Hofford and Jim Paliafito.
“They do a lot of the legwork,” he said.
Then there’s the question of whether or not they will put someone in Lou Lamoriello’s advisory role. I’m not convinced it will happen, especially since it is believed Ron Francis wishes to sit out a year. If I were in Dubas’s shoes, the thing that would tempt me is information. Knowledge is power in this business and someone like Chuck Fletcher, who was just in a GM chair, could bring a ton of intel.”
“14. With Brandon Pridham promoted and Laurence Gilman hired, the Maple Leafs are now looking to replace Mark Hunter’s spot in the organization. There’s a ton of interest. As Jeff Marek pointed out, a lot of the educated guessing surrounds Wes Clark, and we’re not talking about the retired U.S. Army General. Clark, 35, was Dubas’s first hire at OHL Sault Ste. Marie and later came to Toronto. He left for the Florida Panthers in 2016, where he is an amateur scout. (Cue the conspiracy music — he’s also tight with John Tavares.)
One NHL exec — who isn’t interested in the position — said that if the Maple Leafs wanted, they could simply draw up a list of people with local connections who would probably love to come back. Off the top of his head, he threw out Sean Burke (played for the old OHL Marlies, now with Montreal), Mike Futa (Toronto-born, Los Angeles), Scott Howson (Toronto-born, Edmonton) and two from the St. Louis front office, Bill Armstrong and Rob DiMaio, both of whom live in the city. Another GM wondered if Dubas will keep two of Hunter’s lieutenants, Lindsay Hofford and Jim Paliafito.
“They do a lot of the legwork,” he said.
Then there’s the question of whether or not they will put someone in Lou Lamoriello’s advisory role. I’m not convinced it will happen, especially since it is believed Ron Francis wishes to sit out a year. If I were in Dubas’s shoes, the thing that would tempt me is information. Knowledge is power in this business and someone like Chuck Fletcher, who was just in a GM chair, could bring a ton of intel.”