Report: Maple Leafs Rejected by Heated Rival in Bid To Hire Their GM

The Toronto Maple Leafs, by all accounts, seem to have settled on their new hockey operations team. However, according to insider Elliotte Friedman on the 32 Thoughts podcast, MLSE initially had its sights set much higher.

James Mirtle in The Athletic had a line about Toronto being turned down to speak to a current general manager. I believe that was Julien BriseBois of the Tampa Bay Lightning. That's who I think they asked permission to speak to, and they were rejected.

But of course, Elliotte spoke for most everyone when he said, “I don’t think anyone is shocked here that the Lightning would say no.”

You could say that history repeats itself. Back in 2015, when the Leafs were looking to fill their vacant GM position, BriseBois was considered a top candidate, and they had tried to get permission from Tampa to speak with him then. At that time, BriseBois was working under Steve Yzerman in Tampa, but hadn't yet ascended to the GM role. Toronto eventually hired Lou Lamoriello that summer to replace the fired Dave Nonis.

A lot has changed since then, as BriseBois went on to take over the GM role in Tampa three years later, in 2018, and the rest is history, as he led the franchise to two Stanley Cup triumphs in 2020 and 2021.

As for what is happening in the world of reality for the Maple Leafs in 2026, they are working hard to get an agreement done with Mats Sundin to supposedly head up their hockey ops department.

"Everybody has to understand everybody else's expectations of what this was going to be about," said Friedman.

He says there's still confidence it will get worked out, but it's not done just yet.