Toronto will interview the exact New York executive responsible for that physical roster
Toronto may be in the market to bring in someone from the Big Apple as reports have named Rangers Assistant GM Ryan Martin as a potential GM candidate for the Leafs.
The talk around town is that the Toronto Maple Leafs are getting closer to hiring exactly who they want to run the show. It sounds like Mike Gillis is the frontrunner now that Sunny Mehta is off the board, and the team wants Mats Sundin to make a difference in some type of role.
But it's always seemingly the same names that we hear about, and while there are a couple of outsider names like Brandon Pridham and Hayley Wickenheiser; they are internal options who are part of the same status quo.
What they need is someone unafraid of building a group ready to be relentless.
Dropping the recycled names to focus on a guy who builds absolute playoff bullies
As Elliotte Friedman noted on his latest 32 Thoughts podcast, the Maple Leafs' list of names has grown extensively, but there is a potential that the team could go outside the box and look at New York Rangers Assistant GM and Hartford Wolf Pack GM Ryan Martin.
Martin has been an Assistant GM in some capacity since 2010-2011 where he started with the Detroit Red Wings and spent 12 years as Red Wings AGM as well as the GM of their AHL affiliate Grand Rapids.
He's been to the Conference Finals twice with the Rangers, and also had. fair bit of postseason success with the Red Wings as well. But both teams he built were tough cookies in the playoffs and loved to bring the physicality.
It's exactly what Toronto needs especially with how much protection Auston Matthews needs if he is going to be targeted, and going against the grain and hiring someone without GM experience but someone with a great background in cap and analytics — it could be the spark the team needs.
Change is weird and scary, but it also can bring something wonderful and unexpected...take the risk.
The reason why Ryan Martin makes a ton of sense for the Maple Leafs
Martin is someone who you can count on. There's a reason he spent the last 15 years to help run things with two of the more successful teams in the league and with Toronto wanting to throw a wrench into things — a new GM does that.
But he's also a guy who has the education and credentials to be that data-driven guy while also being able to utilize the eye test to a high degree. He has a BA in Economics, a law degree from University of Denver, and an LLM in taxation; numbers are kind of his thing.
Also, he helped build Grand Rapids into a young dynasty where a lot of the young great players from the Red Wings group have made their name in the NHL like Tyler Bertuzzi, Dylan Larkin, and Yevgeny Svechnikov.
You want someone who is willing to take a gamble on the younger names and not have them wilt away playing for years and never seeing what they can offer. Martin would help prevent another Alex Steeves situation and we may actually see players develop.
He's a jack of all trades. He's great in development, he's a salary cap genius, can manage big contracts while also finding value, and his experience of nearly two decades shows he deserves at least a shot.
Do you want to get rid of the status quo Toronto? Find yourself a way to hire Ryan Martin because you're going to be pleasantly surprised at what he'll be able to build.
Also read on Hockey Patrol :
Free agent Bobby McMann dropping an intense reality check leaves Toronto zero room for error
Free agent Bobby McMann dropping an intense reality check leaves Toronto zero room for error
Previously on Hockey Patrol