Chris Pronger puts the Maple Leafs on notice with his strict conditions for the MLSE to join the front office
Photo credit: Jeff Curry-Imagn Images
Chris Pronger has just been on a media tour trying to present himself as someone who can lead a team to success. The Maple Leafs desperately need that type of guidance. Now it's up to Keith Pelley to stay out of his way and let him turn things around.
Don't get it fooled: Keith Pelley may say he cares about Toronto sports but his actions recently prove otherwise. He let both Brendan Shanahan and Masai Ujiri go from the Maple Leafs and Raptors respectively and decided to helm things while working with GM's and coaches to build a team.
Keith Pelley cut Masai Ujiri and Brendan Shanahan loose with zero plans to replace them and that's a problem for Chris Pronger
While the Raptors are a great story, the Maple Leafs are anything but. They have continued to disappoint and with the last two years filled with a bunch of questions with seemingly no answer — and they're running out of time to find one.
Those moves wouldn't have happened if the team had a President to work things out. With a mediator between the GM and the CEO, there's someone who can either affirm a decision or veto it. You need a hockey mind in that position and no offense to Pelley; he ain't it chief.
The question is now: Can Pelley swallow his pride, put ego aside and let someone else run the show? Adding someone like Pronger or even a highly esteemed executive like Jim Nill would instantly make things better, but only if Pelley doesn't feel slighted by someone else making decisions.
Pronger has been giving an extended audition for months and Toronto has to give him the leading role
Toronto doesn't need to really interview anyone for the job considering that Pronger has been essentially auditioning for the role for the last few weeks.
Steve Simmons named him as a potential President and things snowballed from there. Next we saw a cheeky social media post where Pronger was at the CN Tower, then came the recent interview where he was bewildered at the lack of response for Auston Matthews.
Everything has pointed to him being one who can actually change the culture, and his recent comments on Leafs Morning Take are very interesting especially when you read between the lines:
I've been asked about all kinds of different things. I am willing to talk to anybody, I never say never. For me to do anything hockey operations it needs to be the right fit, to me it's about the fit and opportunity than anything else.
I wouldn't say no; there's a number of teams I have interest but it doesn't mean they are available or they want me. We can throw darts at a board, right now they have guys in those positions. Until they aren't there, it doesn't matter.
I wouldn't say no; there's a number of teams I have interest but it doesn't mean they are available or they want me. We can throw darts at a board, right now they have guys in those positions. Until they aren't there, it doesn't matter.
Several teams already do have those people in power; St. Louis and Dallas come to mind. But guess who already has a vacancy waiting to be filled?
The Maple Leafs are a team who desperately need Pronger to come in and build the team around Auston Matthews and with him publicly stating there is genuine interest in having a job in hockey operations — the pieces are starting to fall into place.
There's genuinely no excuse now for Keith Pelley not to bring in Pronger. He has a vacant position that the Hall of Famer is more than happy to fill, and give him a chance to redeem the last decade of disappointment.
It's just a matter of whether Pelley values winning over self-preservation.
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11 HOURS AGO|480 ANSWERS Chris Pronger puts the Maple Leafs on notice with his strict conditions for the MLSE to join the front office Should the Maple Leafs hire Chris Pronger or someone else for Team President? | ||