The Toronto Maple Leafs will have some serious eyes on them as they head into what’s undoubtedly the biggest offseason of the Auston Matthews era. With the team missing the playoffs for the first time since 2015-16 and having parted ways with Brad Treliving as their general manager, the Leafs are under a ton of pressure to revamp their front office, who will then have a decision to make regarding the fate of head coach Craig Berube, too.

Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman listed a number of candidates that he believes the Maple Leafs have spoken to regarding the front office job in the latest edition of his 32 Thoughts blog. He lists Mike Gillis, who has easily been the most connected name to them so far, in addition to retired hall-of-fame defenceman Chris Pronger among several other names.

The Gillis connection is no surprise, as the former Vancouver Canucks general manager has been the most frequent name in reports regarding the Maple Leafs’ search. Pronger has no experience in an NHL front office but would be an interesting hire simply due to the name factor. Chayka is an analytics-heavy figure who made history as the youngest person to be named GM of an NHL team when the Arizona Coyotes hired him at 26 in 2016. Ryan Bowness is an assistant general manager for the New York Islanders and the son of Columbus Blue Jackets head coach Rick Bowness, while Martin holds the same job with the New York Rangers. Hardy and Pridham are both currently assistant general managers for the Leafs.

Friedman also noted in his blog that the Maple Leafs are trending towards hiring franchise legend Mats Sundin for a front office role. While he’s not believed to be part of the GM search, it seems more and more likely that he’ll end up with some sort of role in hockey operations, perhaps as an advisor of some sort.

The Maple Leafs will be taking their time to determine the structure of their front office and who will be hired for what jobs, but they’re working swiftly with the NHL draft and free agency looming. From there, all eyes will be on the direction said front office decides to take with this team.

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