Things are starting to heat up in Toronto as the Maple Leafs are close to hiring their 18th general manager in franchise history.
On Friday, Insiders Elliot Friedman and Frank Serravalle Both report that there are a number of candidates highlighting some of the names that have popped up outside of Brad Triliving including Mark Bergevin, Jason Bottrell and Peter Chiarelli.
Since the Leafs are clearly looking for someone with experience, it’s no surprise that these are some of the names involved. But on Thursday, it was Chris Johnston who also dropped some interesting news: The Leafs could be concluding their general manager search sooner rather than later.
on Thursday’s episode of The Chris Johnston ShowNot only did he talk about it, but he also talked about how the Leafs’ process would speed up by the time he saw their entry.
Johnston: They almost do it in the reverse order of what other teams do where they take an extensive roster and whittle it down to their own. I’m not saying the Leafs started in one, but I do think they started with a handful of really attractive candidates and are willing to expand a little bit if they’re not quite sure if they have what they need.
I don’t think either is necessarily better than the other. I think some of this broad group of candidates — Pittsburgh has done this as well, like Calgary — part of it is because they’ve had time. Basically, within days of the regular season, the Penguins had released their GM Ron Hextall and Brad Treliving and the Flames had parted ways, so they had two months, two and a half months until the draft at that point. Maybe they had a respite of time.
I think in the Leafs case, we obviously understand the time crunch and I think they have a very clear idea of what they’re looking for. I think Brad Triliving fits the bill, but we’ll have to see. I don’t know how those interviews went, I don’t know how he was perceived, I don’t know how he came about during those interviews.
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Mackenzie: Is it hard to give a timeline for how long it might take?
Johnston: It is, but I think it could happen in a matter of days, or a week, for example. I don’t see this extending into June, or very far into June, which is just under a week from now. I think by virtue of the necessity of their situation, they need to address it quickly. Unless there’s a curveball, or they really go through the first set of interviews and they’re like, “You know what, we don’t have the right person.” Maybe they should step back and look at some other options. Assuming there isn’t any curve here, I think this can be done pretty quickly.
Zack Ling is the news director and columnist for The Nation Network. He can be followed on Twitter at @employeeor by email at zach@thenationnetwork.com.