Leafs Front Office 2026-27
- Thread starter herman
- Start date
Chris Johnston noted on his podcast:
From The Chris Johnston Show: Sundin For Maple Leafs Job? | The Chris Johnston Show, Apr 17, 2026
Sundin For Maple Leafs Job? | The Chris Johnston Show
Podcast Episode · The Chris Johnston Show · April 17 · 46mpodcasts.apple.com
So for whatever it’s worth, the former players who knew him felt the POHO position was something Sundin had the chops for.
At a glance (might have missed someone), Savard, Gainey and Sakic are the only Hall of Fame players who became GMs and won a Cup.
I do suspect that will improve as about 1/3 of the league's current general managers are past players who played a bunch of NHL games - which might be an all time high in the league. I think it is trending that way. During the original six years, players were not held in the same high regard and had to have second jobs to pay their bills.
A number of past NHL player GMs had their sights set on it before they finished playing. I'm not so sure that is the case with Mats - which is probably why he appears to be taking the time to think over whatever it is they may have proposed - if that is accurate (and not crazy speculation).Maybe that is why he apparently wasn't considered when they hired Shanahan (who was far more qualified).
I do not see anything good beyond an advisor role for Mats. There is bound to be some management politics as part of the Leafs GM role. It is a corporation run by a board that oversees several teams and has a very large payroll and staff. According to Pelley, the Leafs GM cannot fire the coach without MLSE board approval and I'm sure there are financial limits on contracts requiring board approval. I do not see Mats thriving in that environment nor desiring to be in that environment in a deep way. Can't see him making spreadsheet/powerpoint presentations to the board on where the team will be in five years.
As well, he seems to have an ideal life in Sweden. No more Toronto media fishbowl.
I can see why MLSE would be interested. They're starting to experience games with noticeable empty seats and fewer sellouts. An aged roster with a shallow prospect pool and fewer top picks trends towards getting worse. There are concerning signs of fan apathy. Adding Mats would be an attempt to address that. So Sundin has to weigh how sincere they are vs them using his good name to bolster their sagging situation.
herman
Well-known member
The Sundin departure was fraught with conflict and conviction; it was basically a divorce, so I'm not surprised Sundin was borderline done with the NHL entirely. He ultimately regretted signing with the Canucks because he wanted to retire as a Leaf. He had put his personal life on pause to commit to the job at hand and it turned south at the end. I think we saw a lot of fruit of the healing that has taken place over the years when he joined the team in Sweden and some subsequent Toronto visits.
Pros: Sundin instantly adds brand credibility; he has handled the Toronto fishbowl with aplomb, and has the cachet that bridges both the Oakley-selfie traditionalist and the Corsi-era blogger fan. I would argue he has a great deal of executive experience in being a captain of a team under the microscope, leading like 8 other former team captains who would happily run through a wall for him (some of whom were airdropped at deadlines), as well as in-the-trenches experience with good and bad management above him. The upper-most executives generally aren't the ones doing the tasks, but positioning people to succeed and setting the standard and determinations of what matters (data, culture, process).
Cons: What if he ends up like Gretzky coaching? The popularity with the fanbase is double-edged; top Leaf exec is not a starter job, though we've seen at least one do a decent job of it until his ambition overtook his process. Who is going to have the cajones to fire him? Sundin has such deep roots here, it might be tricky to be ruthless where necessary (i.e. we need to give up on the Max Domi experiment), unless he has very strong convictions about separation of Church and State and lets the GM actually make those calls.
Sundin as high up as even a GM position with Mike Gillis in POHO position to help guide him through the job for a few years before Sundin possibly takes over both positions from there... well sure I could maybe get behind that I guess. But with all due respect to Sundin and everything he did as a franchise, handing him the top job and just saying "good luck" would be insane.
herman
Well-known member
I think GM is a harder role (technically, mechanically) than the President role actually. I would rather Sundin be VPOHO than GM, or even AGM at this point.
As far as day to day responsibilities go, maybe sure. But in this case having a POHO above Sundin would be more about giving him someone who could speed-run the training most people spend at least a few years on before becoming a GM (or in the case of Scott White, 2 decades).
Imagine the interview:
"So Mats, how much data-centric decision making was employed in your sons pee wee leagues? Do they have a cap?"
I think the world of Mats - on and off the ice. I worry they're using him. He doesn't need the money.
Yzerman and Sakic went from playing into management either immediately or shortly after retiring.
Sundin retired nearly 17 years ago after an 18 year NHL career. That's between 3 and 4 average NHL career lengths largely away from the NHL game. There's no way he would know the collection of talent in the league and surrounding it as well as most.
Mats left the NHL not long after the first CBA. A lot of the data-centric stuff, which is obviously still evolving, came along after. So did twists and turns in the CBA. In terms of managing a team, it is far more complex than it was not long before he left. Mats experienced Steve Stavro as an owner and then MLSE became really corporate in 2003. If a single owner was operating the Leafs, I would probably not feel as concerned. This is a very different situation than single owner. But still, the job today is more complicated.
He could probably begin to represent the team at the league board of governors after some training. He could advise on talent and hockey issues - as an advisor. He could mentor some players. But a hands on GM management role with MLSE would take years of training for him.
They also didn't immediately go into GM roles. Yzerman worked under Ken Holland for 4 seasons with Detroit (along with being the GM of Team Canada for 2 World Championships and the 2010 Olympics) before Tampa poached him. Sakic had 2 or 3 seasons with Colorado before taking the full GM role.
herman
Well-known member
Exactly, Yzerman talked about taking that path some time before he retired. He was learning the ropes while he was still a player.
Imagine it is the deadline. Team offers prospects X & Y and a regular NHLer ... .you have to know those players and their data almost immediately.as the clock is ticking. There are 736 regular NHLers plus at least twice that many prospects and the opposing GM has been watching them for years. It takes years to get that knowledge and stay on top of it. If one has been playing in the league, naturally, that is a big help.
Sundin is coming in cold. If he is coming, he's not coming in with any significant responsibility out the gate.
It feels like he's the lipstick they're trying to put on this pig - to milk a playoff run or two out of Matthews.
herman
Well-known member
I agree with your overall point about experience, but no modern manager or org should be freeballing valuation like that.
If your data group and devs, and scouting group are worth their salt, all that information is already part of the internal system and it’s a simple matter of the software’s calibration of the performance indicators that the team cares about to extrapolate a value metric for the trade package ins and outs to inform the human decision making of position/handedness/roles/vibes evaluation.
herman
Well-known member
I think Treliving really relied on his experience of the players he pursued, which is why he kept getting brand name players on the tail ens of their careers.