Throwback Thursday: Five years ago today, Toronto Maple Leafs hire Lou Lamoriello as GM

It was five years ago today that the Toronto Maple Leafs hired Lou Lamoriello as the 16th general manager in organization history.

Lou’s time in Toronto lasted only three years and was surrounded in many controversies. Some loved him and what he did, others hated him and what he did. There was no denying his ability to help bring the Leafs back into the playoffs.

Toronto had only made the playoffs once in the prior ten years and in Lou’s second and third season, he helped get them back.

He drafted Auston Matthews and helped mentor Kyle Dubas who took the GM reins over upon Lamoriello’s exit.

He made 19 trades for the Leafs over those three years and some big ones at that. He concocted a nine-player deal that moved Dion Phaneuf to the Ottawa Senators in Feb. 2016. He traded two draft picks for Frederik Anderson in June 2016.

Those were the two largest impact moves that he made in getting rid of the Phaneuf contract as well as bringing in the clubs future starting goalie.

Some of his signings didn’t always pan out. For example, Nikita Zaitsev probably didn’t deserve a seven-year, $4.5-million AAV deal and inking Patrick Marleau to a three-year, $6.25-million AAV deal caused future cap troubles.

There were some good deals made, like signing Morgan Rielly to a six-year, $5-million AAV deal, or Andersen to a deal worth the same but for five-years.

What do you think of Lou’s time in Toronto?

On Twitter: @zjlaing