The Case for Mark Hunter as the Next GM
By Jon Steitzer
5 years agoAt this point it’s pretty much fact that Kyle Dubas is going to be the next GM. That’s fine. In my opinion he is the best internal option, and I’m pretty sure the Leafs wouldn’t look outside the organization unless they plan on parking a Brinks truck across the street from Steve Yzerman’s house. Nonetheless, I took the time to look at Mike Babcock, so the least I can do is also take a look at Mark Hunter.
Making the case for Mark Hunter has largely already been done by Ryan Pyette in the London Free Press. The article was absolutely written by Ryan the same way it absolutely wasn’t Kurt Russell who edited the Escape From LA trivia on Internet Movie Database. Since Ryan has done the heavy lifting, we’ll lean on what he said in his case for Mark Hunter.
It’s Mark Hunter’s time.He should be the next GM of the Toronto Maple Leafs.You will never hear those words from him, of course. He’s not a master of self-promotion, doesn’t sell himself or grandstand for a way to move up the corporate ladder.That’s not in his nature. He has always been more about the team and organization than personal glory or achievements.
Again, this was not written by Mark Hunter.
This is a young team on the cusp of doing something substantial — and the 55-year-old Hunter oozes substance.
If you are oozing substance you should probably consult a physician and worry about applying for a GM job second.
He won the Stanley Cup as a player with the Calgary Flames in 1989. He has been around people like Bob Gainey and Cliff Fletcher in his career, so he can approach those championship-defining decisions with the confidence that it’s tested and true.
Mark Hunter being on the 1989 Flames is probably news to most people not named Mark Hunter. I wouldn’t say that he played too much of a memorable role, but I was eight at the time and could be wrong. To be safe, Ryan has doubled down with the hockey men beget more hockey men argument, and the recent management experience of Gainey and Fletcher do nothing but inspire confidence.
And you already know what his relationship with the club’s best playoff performer — Mitch Marner — has been like through their association with London.Londoner Nazem Kadri, another Knights alumnus, felt a lot more comfortable about his long-term future in Toronto when Hunter left his London GM gig to come aboard as director of player personnel four years ago. Back then, the centreman indicated it was nice to have someone in his corner moving forward.
Okay, so that’s a legitimate point. Marner and Kadri both have had long time familiarity with what Hunter brings to the table and there’s a trust that he’ll do right by the players. On the outside of the organization we may not see that as something that matters, but internally it means something.
And since Hunter has been the main reason the Knights have been a world leader in producing big-league talent for the past 15 years, he becomes a tremendous asset heading into the free agency market.
Replace producing with buying, but that’s also a skill that matters as a GM so I’m not underselling it. It is an asset heading into the free agent market
If Washington Capitals defenceman John Carlson, an ex-London player, picks up the phone in July and sees it’s Toronto calling, he already has a close personal connection with Hunter.
I am intrigued. It’s also worth noting that John Tavares is a former London Knight. Anyway, I don’t think this matters a tremendous amount, but it’s a who you know business and it doesn’t hurt.
He’s never been afraid to ask everybody’s opinion before making his decision and he’s willing to go outside the box for ideas and new methods to get to an end result.
I’ll challenge this. The recent Leafs drafting of slow, towering blueliners leads me to believe that he may be dangerously in the box. When he has gone outside the box on overagers in the draft, he seems to be reaching for them instead of taking that in the later rounds which is also worrisome.
A lot of hockey people firmly believe that if you have a coach who didn’t play in the NHL, then it’s imperative to have a GM that has been in the player’s skates.
I’d argue it’s better to stop catering to this mentality and again goes against the outside the box approach mentioned above. It’s still a valid point though.
The former Knights boss is one of the foremost evaluators of talent in the world. There’s a reason why he’s such a central figure at the Leafs table on NHL draft day.
Did they need the foremost evaluator to tell them to take Liljegren? I sure hope not. I’d sure like him to explain Fedor Gordeev to me though.
Finally…
He doesn’t need the Toronto GM job to validate his abilities. He would be incredibly happy to keep driving or flying to arenas all over the globe to pick out the new crop of hockey talent.
Good news for Mark Hunter. He’s probably not getting this opportunity and he’ll still get to travel the globe. I’m also happy to see him continue on his role around the draft because I think Hunter’s eye for talent with Dubas having the final say and creating the shopping list is a good combination. While I’m not sure Mark Hunter would be a bad choice as GM, I get the feeling there’s somewhat of a status quo feeling about giving him the role.
Recent articles from Jon Steitzer
