MLSE CEO Keith Pelley reportedly had multiple conversations with Mike Gillis well before the Toronto Maple Leafs decided to fire GM Brad Treliving, according to TSN’s Darren Dreger.

“I think he got to know him. True or not, I heard that there were discussions well in advance of Treliving being let go between Pelley and Mike Gillis,” he said during an appearance on Overdrive on Tuesday. “ I’m sure that Mike has interviewed in other vacancies between now and his time with the Vancouver Canucks. Not as public, not as under the microscope as the Toronto job would be for a myriad of different reasons.”

This marks the latest report connecting the Leafs to Gillis, which has become an increasingly frequent occurrence over the last few weeks since Pelley first mentioned that the next executive needed to be data-centric.

Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported on March 31 that the Leafs were interested in Gillis based on the work he did during his six years with the Vancouver Canucks. The Athletic’s James Mirtle reported on April 2 that league sources and people who know Gillis well stated that he is on friendly terms with Pelley and intrigued by the opportunity that he would get by retooling the Leafs. SDPN’s Chris Johnston reported on April 9 that their interest in Gillis was real and that he was set for a second meeting with Pelley.

Friedman reported on Sunday that Gillis and Pelley have since had a third meeting over Zoom, in addition to the other finalists in the running in Evan Gold and Ryan Martin. Based on the fact the latter two names are AGMs who have never held the top position before, it would lead one to believe that one of them plus Gillis as POHO could be the outcome.

“ We go back to that media availability where Pelley made it abundantly clear how heavy he believes in analytics and data,” Dreger continued. “ You do go back to the time of Mike Gillis in Vancouver, where he was ahead of his time. All the sports science that the Canucks leaned on, the sleep studies and all of that stuff. If other teams were doing it, they were doing it somewhat quietly, right? But he made it seem like he was way ahead of the game and this was the direction and the future.”

Now it is fair to question why Gillis has not found work in an NHL front office in the 12 years since he was fired by the Canucks, as someone being away from the game for that long and potentially going into the mecca of hockey as his next gig is quite the endeavour. But bear in mind that Gillis is someone who knows how to handle an intense Canadian market, and people who know him personally know he wouldn’t just accept any executive role unless he has control of the operations.

With all the speculation between Gillis and Pelley not going away, and rumblings that a decision could be reached at some point this week, we are not far from resolving who will fill the void left by Treliving.

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