Two Intriguing Names Emerge for Maple Leafs GM Opening

The names are flying fast and furious for the front office openings in Toronto. The latest word from insider Elliotte Friedman is that we shouldn't expect Doug Armstrong to be leaving St. Louis to take a position with the Maple Leafs. "The timing isn't right," the insider reports on his 32 Thoughts Podcast.  

But he does name two other intriguing candidates whom he has heard are possibilities. 

I think they want to try something a bit different... 

One name I do think is gonna be part of Toronto’s search, and he’s been kind of discussed this week, is Sunny Mehta, one of the assistant general managers of the Florida Panthers... I do think he’s gonna be a factor.

I've heard this from a few different people: 

The Sunny Mehta (thing) is real and we'll see where it goes. 

Mehta has taken an interesting path to the assistant GM job in Florida. And he certainly fits MLSE CEO Keith Pelley's desire to find a "data-centric" man for the job. Mehta first served three seasons as the Panthers' vice president of hockey strategy and intelligence, and has been assistant GM and head of analytics for the past three years. 

But the most intriguing part of Mehta's past is that he was also a legendary poker player and even wrote two books on the subject. He's obviously a numbers guy who brings some fascinating background to the game of hockey. And his contributions were a huge part of the Panthers' two Stanley Cups. 

Former Buffalo Sabres GM Kevyn Adams linked as Leafs candidate 

But even stranger, some would say, is the suggestion that former Buffalo Sabres GM Kevyn Adams is also a possibility for the Leafs' job, according to Friedman. Adams was fired in Buffalo earlier this season after failing to get the Sabres over the hump the past few years. But almost immediately after Adams was let go, the Sabres suddenly became the hottest team in the NHL, and are currently battling for first place in the Atlantic Division. They will be making the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time in 15 years, and it's basically with the team that Adams assembled using his analytical approach.

Friedman insists he'd be a fit for the Leafs.   

This is my personal opinion, but I also wonder about Kevyn Adams for this job because the more I've heard about him and what Pelley said, I think there's a lot of similarity... It didn't start out great (for Adams' moves in Buffalo), but boy, it looks great now.

Other prominent names have been mentioned, and plenty of them, but the Leafs are trying to tighten up on all of the talk about potential candidates. 

"It got crazy last week with all the first week candidates and I'm just as guilty as anyone else. I think the Leafs want to lock it down a little bit," said Friedman.