Leafs’ next GM will need to be a creative planner
With a vacancy in the front office of one of the NHL’s biggest franchises, the question of who should fill that hole is leading to many interesting theories.
On Monday night, the Toronto Maple Leafs relieved Brad Treliving of his duties as general manager. It comes after a disastrous 2025-26 season in which the Maple Leafs will most likely be missing the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time in a decade. Over his two-plus years in the role, Treliving’s teams have only won a single playoff series, but they hardly seemed like a true championship contender.
Who MLSE hires to fill the role is a hot topic. Does the organization go with someone who has been there and done that? Or do they try to get creative by going off the beaten path?
On Tuesday’s edition of Daily Faceoff LIVE, Jeff Marek of The Sheet joined Tyler Yaremchuk and Carter Hutton to explain what type of person should step into the role as GM of the Maple Leafs.
Jeff Marek: They need a planner. This is a team right now that needs a planner. They don’t need someone that, ‘I’ve got all these relationships, I can get these players, I can sign these, I have these great relationships with this agency.’ No. This is a team that needs a creative planner. Someone with a vision that is longer than one season. With this team right now, you can’t go season-to-season.
I know there’s been a lot of names out there, and Doug Armstrong is the big one. … Here’s one that I really wonder about. Mike Gillis. When you look at someone, considering there’s not going to be a sort of president’s layer to this, because MLSE has gotten rid of those, You need to have someone that I think that can act presidentially and sort of fulfill that mandate, almost like a Mark Shapiro in a sense, but one that also has two hands on the wheel and manages the team.
When you look at someone like Mike Gillis, who’s worked in management for a number of years, was an agent, is still considered a mentor for a lot of agents around the NHL. They still come to him for advice. He was a finalist for the executive director of the NHL Players Association and has a huge respect amongst NHL teams, and has the ability to think creatively.
Remember how everyone laughed at Mike Gillis for the sleep stuff that he did with the Vancouver Canucks? Remember that? About, like, planning naps and planning when they sleep and all these types of things? … Mike saw that as an advantage…and now, by the way, everybody does it. … He was on to that years and years before anybody else. That’s the kind of person, whether it’s Mike or whether it’s someone like him, I think that’s the kind of manager that the Maple Leafs need. Someone that is creative and doesn’t just fulfill the obligations of the general manager based on, ‘Well, he’s been a general manager before and everybody knows his name. That’s the kind of guy.
You can watch the full segment and entire episode here…