NHL Rumor Mill – April 1, 2026
Who are the potential candidates to become the next GM of the Maple Leafs? Are management changes coming for the Devils and Canucks? Check out the latest in today’s NHL Rumor Mill.
THE LATEST ON THE MAPLE LEAFS’ GM SEARCH
TSN: Pierre LeBrun believes that Keith Pelley, the head of Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment, tipped his hand when he said that he favors retooling the Maple Leafs roster over a rebuild. He expects it will be a cue card for the potential candidates for the job.
Darren Dreger reports former Maple Leafs GM Brad Treliving was at least working on retooling the roster before he was fired. Treliving was hoping to use some of the draft picks that he acquired before last month’s trade deadline as trade collateral to acquire a good young defenseman. The Leafs also need a center to take some of the load off John Tavares.
Chris Johnston indicated that Pelley is seeking a data-minded person for the GM job. The Leafs will hire a search firm to help them find some potential candidates.
St. Louis Blues general manager Doug Armstrong (NHL.com).
LeBrun mentioned that St. Louis Blues GM Doug Armstrong has been linked to the Maple Leafs. Armstrong is stepping down from his current role at the end of this season, but he’s under contract as the Blues’ president of hockey operations. It would be up to Blues owner Tom Stillman whether he’ll permit clubs to speak with Armstrong.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Blues beat writer Jeremy Rutherford of The Athletic doesn’t expect Stillman to grant permission for the Leafs to talk to Armstrong about their vacant management position. The Blues owner would prefer that Armstrong stick around to help the incoming GM, Alexander Steen.
Johnston mentioned that Pelley has reached out to sidelined Maple Leafs captain Auston Matthews. It’s expected there will be more discussions between the two regarding the club’s direction. Matthews has two years remaining on his contract.
In his column for The Athletic, LeBrun mentioned former Vancouver Canucks GM Mike Gillis as a potential candidate. He also believes the Maple Leafs could be looking at multiple hires, with a veteran hand paired with an up-and-comer.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: The “veteran hand” would likely end up in the hockey operations role, while the “up-and-comer” gets the general manager’s chair.
SPORTSNET: Elliotte Friedman believes there will be plenty of interest in the Leafs GM job. He wondered if former Los Angeles Kings GM Dean Lombardi would be a candidate for the Leafs job. Lombardi currently works with the Philadelphia Flyers. Other possibilities could be Pittsburgh Penguins assistant GM Jason Spezza and Florida Panthers assistant GM Sunny Mehta.
COULD THE DEVILS AND CANUCKS SHAKE UP THEIR MANAGEMENT?
SPORTSNET: Nick Kypreos observed that Tom Fitzgerald holds the president of hockey operations and general manager titles. However, some are wondering if they might break up those roles.
Kypreos speculated they could hire a new hockey ops president, keep Fitzgerald around for one more season, and evaluate from there. It’s believed he’s preparing for the worst because he’s been on the hot seat this season.
FULL PRESS MEDIA: Jim Biringer wondered if the Maple Leafs firing of Brad Treliving might lead to a management change for the Devils.
It’s been rumored that Devils ownership might be contemplating some sort of change in the front office. However, Fitzgerald has maintained that he’s been in sync with ownership and the coaching staff.
If the Devils make a management change, Biringer believes it won’t come from within.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: It seems a safer choice to hire a new president and give Fitzgerald one more season to redeem himself. However, the Devils ownership could have an eye on whoever applies for the Leafs’ job and perhaps interview those who didn’t get that role.
Kypreos also noted that changes are coming for the Vancouver Canucks, but it remains unclear to what extent they will take. He’s heard that GM Patrik Allvin doesn’t expect to survive the season.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Allvin is the right-hand man of Jim Rutherford, the Canucks president of hockey operations. It would be an interesting move by Rutherford to hand Allvin his walking papers.
Canucks beat writer Thomas Drance of The Athletic isn’t sure just how far they are willing to go as they attempt to move on from this disastrous season. He thinks the organization should face some measure of accountability, but it remains to be seen what that could be.
If Vancouver is doing a retool I can see management stay but Foote let go. They they are going into a real rebuild, at a minimum, Allvin should be let go, probably Rutherford as well.
As for Toronto, they are in the same position Vancouver were 2-3 years ago, meaning a retool wont work, not enough young players coming from below. Prospect pool is bare, they have given away picks like candy and they good players are just to few
What about the 3 or 4 FA’s TML just signed? Are they all destined to be just Marlies?????
Assets awaiting evaluation bud. Long shots…a bit further down the road in development (20+ yr olds vs 18) about the equivalent of a late round pick, late meaning 2nd/3rd and beyond.
Shouldn’t your question be more like how/why is your team not adding these guys…they might be a found wallet whether it’s empty or not you’ll never know unless you pick it up. Are you a closet fan?
Man I don’t trust that Pelley guy. There’s a lot he said and a lot wasn’t good. There were even some questions asked that made me think the answer was already known. Like how did he know those prospects names like that? Especially when he just finished saying he’s not there to make decisions,…or scouting, etc, there’s more and I don’t know much about him and hope I never do. I’m sure other people have made up their minds already but that would have happened no matter what he says.
Since none of us can control what happens to the team, the best thing is to watch what they do next and pass the popcorn. 🍿
Shawn Thornton would be a dandy choice as Leafs Skipper. Not sure if Atlanta is keen on that idea though.
Your suggestion of Thornton surprised me, as I only know him in his role of (disliked by me) player. I had a quick look at his role with the Hawks, as desribed in his hiring announcement:
(He) will guide all aspects of sales, activation, operations, and financial oversight of the global partnerships business.
That sounds more like an administrative role than experience coaching. And would his player related pugnaciousness not be the same as Berube’s?
Could someone identify for me the job description of President of hockey operations and General manager! Can t one person do both jobs. Why have so many cooks in the kitchen!
It’s simple.
Line of command: owner-pres-GM-coach
Responsibilities:
owner – payroll.
pres – a go between corp owners and managers GMs, such as report to owner stats of team/staffing, BoG meetings, any hockey exec function including some limited press.
GM – face of the team, manager of all assets, runs the team builds the team, the go between managers and execs. Does some press hires/fires staff…basically all the grunt work that’s inline with the pres of ops vision of the team. A good example would be Montreal.
There’s probably more to it but more or less but in Toronto’s case Pelley is neither other than he has the owner’s ears and/or purse strings. Is all this redundant? Yes it is but maybe that’s how certain owners want it to be. As I see it, you can have one guy or 10, I don’t care. If you don’t produce results, then you got it wrong.
RM sounds like you just described the TML management team!
If indeed the Devils are going to shuffle the deck, they had better make the move now so whomever is coming on board gets a handle on the draft & where to bolster shortcomings
What are Devils going to do with Hischier? One year left on contract. Never hear his name in rumors. 10 team ntc
Gotta wonder if Dale Hunter’s name will come up.
Tim Murray can easily hold the hot seat until they figure out what the deal is with Mathews.