Toronto Maple Leafs and Mark Hunter agree to part ways
By Austin Owens
Following the departure of Lou Lamoriello, the Toronto Maple Leafs announced that assistant GM Mark Hunter will also be leaving the organization.
It has been a rocky couple of weeks in the Toronto Maple Leafs‘ front office.
After the appointment of Kyle Dubas as the new general manager of the team back on Apr. 30, speculation has been rampant about the status of former GM Lou Lamoriello and assistant GM Mark Hunter.
With news breaking of Lamoriello’s departure for Brooklyn breaking on Monday, the Leafs made an announcement regarding Hunter’s future on Tuesday morning.
The Leafs announced today that the club and Assistant General Manager Mark Hunter have mutually agreed to part ways, effective immediately.
— Leafs PR (@LeafsPR) May 22, 2018
On Monday night’s edition of “Headlines” on Hockey Night in Canada, Sportsnet‘s Elliotte Friedman said that Hunter did not join the Leafs brass in Regina to scout the Memorial Cup, which raised eyebrows as to the status of the two parties.
Following the announcement, Leafs President and Alternate Governor Brendan Shanahan released a statement on Hunter.:
"“Following extensive discussions with Mark, he and the Toronto Maple Leafs have mutually agreed to part ways. I’d like to sincerely thank Mark for everything he’s done for this organization over the last four years and I wish him nothing but the best in the future.”"
It comes as no surprise that Hunter has decided to leave the organization. It was said that if he was not made the Leafs GM, Hunter would likely leave town to try and land a promotion elsewhere. It wouldn’t be a stretch to believe he could follow Lamoriello to New York to take a position, possibly as the general manager or in a bigger role.
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Garth Snow’s record at the helm of the Islanders has been less-than-stellar. While he has not been fired as of now, it is still very much a possibility after Lamoriello is officially announced as the President of Hockey Operations.
While it makes more sense that Lamoriello would just assume the GM role and wear multiple caps, as he did in New Jersey, he may appoint a person he trusts instead.
Hunter has certainly gained the respect of the 75-year-old, after working with him for the past three seasons. Lamoriello would then have a front office featuring Hunter, as well as his son, Chris, as assistant general manager. It sounds like the pair of former Leafs executives could pull one of the biggest heel turns in recent NHL history.
As for Dubas, he now has an even busier offseason than initially anticipated. He will have to make some new hires to fill out the front office, while also handling the draft. Shanahan will be helping by negotiating the big deals this summer, but Dubas will likely be making pitches to free agents to round out the roster.
The likeliest appointment would be Brandon Pridham. The current Assistant to the General Manager, Pridham would kick his Dwight Schrute-esque job title and become Dubas’ right-hand man.
The 44-year-old Pridham is a salary cap wiz and was brought in to help the Leafs right the ship after a series of bad cap moves by the team.
Next: Lamoriello leaving Leafs to join Islanders
All will be made clear in the coming weeks. But the Leafs will have someone other than Hunter running a draft for the first time since 2015. It will be very interesting to see which route they decide to take with selecting players.