Kyle Dubas is building the Toronto Maple Leafs front office in Pittsburgh or so it would seem as he added Brandon Pridham to his growing list of former Leaf execs.
Leave it to the former Maple Leafs GM to keep his hands in all things involved with his former team. Dubas isn't shy about trading players back and forth, nor is he worried about poaching some front office members as well in his quest to build the perfect group of guys he's familiar with.
Kyle Dubas adds yet another familiar face to his growing list of former Maple Leafs in Pittsburgh
Continuing that trend on Tuesday, Elite Prospect's Cam Robinson reported that Dubas was bringing in another former face and it's a big one too - Brandon Pridham.
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Pridham was a part of the Maple Leafs organization since 2014-15 and held various jobs working his way from special assistant to co-GM earlier this year after the team fired Brad Treliving and before they hired John Chayka to take over.
Known as a cap guru and someone who was the key reason why Toronto was able to keep the Core Four together for so long, Pridham is reportedly going to assume the role of Director of Hockey Operations in Pittsburgh according to Elite Prospects and Pridham's team staff profile.
Elliotte Friedman has a bit more on the role that Pridham will have in Pittsburgh:
Former Toronto assistant GM Brandon Pridham is joining Pittsburgh as a Hockey Operations Consultant.
He will handle the contract, cap management and planning responsibilities formerly held by Vukie Mpofu, who recently departed for Nashville. Pridham will also mentor junior members on the staff.
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Dubas already took Chris Roque and Wes Clark over to Pittsburgh with him, also brought in both Connor Dewar and Conor Timmins, just traded for Nick Robertson, and now has Pridham. It's clear that Dubas has people he trusts and that he was biding his time until he could strike and steal them away.
Pridham heading to Pittsburgh is the cost of Toronto's revamped front office structure
Right now, if you were to look at the Maple Leafs' front office roles, you'd see sharp decline in several positions - especially when it comes to the AGM position. They at one point had Pridham, Hayley Wickenheiser, Darryl Metcalf, Ryan Hardy, and Shane Doan all with their fingers on the front office.
While they are great hockey minds, it's too many cooks in the kitchen and Toronto downsized to Judd Brackett; a former Wild scout and drafting genius, and he's kept Ryan Hardy on as well. They do need someone to fill the hole Pridham left, and they may have one with former Bruins AGM Evan Gold reportedly in the mix for a position.
But in that downsizing they lost someone who was as engrained in the team as anyone and a serious lifesaver several times throughout the last decade.
John Chayka decided that loyalty doesn't necessarily mean your job is safe, and Pridham's departure and arrival in Pittsburgh is proof that if you wanna make an omelette - you gotta crack a few eggs.
Are you surprised that Kyle Dubas hired another former Maple Leafs executive?
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