The scuttlebutt on the Maple Leafs’ executive search — who is in, who is out, who is the favourite — is completely all over the place now.
Given MLSE’s desire to tighten up the abject leakiness surrounding the end of the season through to the beginning of this hiring process, perhaps the idea now is to sow enough chaos in the reporting that we’re in a position where we can’t believe anything we read, and everyone should simply sit back until the team finally announces something.
In the meantime, let’s wrap up my front-office candidates series with a handful of other names of interest to me in the GM search. Again, this is not necessarily the shortlist of candidates the Leafs have assembled, but the individuals I’d be interested in talking to. In case you missed part one, I covered Mike Gillis, Dean Lombardi, Evan Gold, and Scott White.
Tim Barnes
Current: Assistant General Manager, Washington Capitals
Past: Director of Hockey Analytics, Washington Capitals
Bio (courtesy Washington Capitals):
Tim Barnes is entering his 11th season with the Washington Capitals, and his first as assistant general manager. Barnes was hired by the Capitals as a part-time consultant in 2014-15 while he continued to work as an equity derivatives trader for a Chicago investment firm. In 2015-16, he joined the Capitals on a full-time basis as the director of hockey analytics.
As director of hockey analytics, Barnes was instrumental in incorporating data-driven decision-making into the day-to-day processes of the hockey operations department, overseeing the development of player valuation systems, trader tools for management, predictive frameworks for roster portfolio term risk, and technology to convert the insights of hockey operations management, scouts, and coaches into actionable metrics.
Barnes graduated with a BSc in engineering from the University of Calgary. Barnes founded an influential analytics-based hockey blog with a bent towards predictive value and created many of the early, well-known hockey analytics statistics. He also launched a hockey data website for public use.
What I like:
Barnes has been a prominent figure in the hockey analytics community for well over a decade, and he has also worked his way up through an NHL organization in that time. Washington has drafted well for years, including picks like Cole Hutson, Ryan Leonard, and Ilya and Aliaksei Protas. They’ve also made some savvy trades, namely fleecing Ottawa for Jakob Chychrun and acquiring Pierre-Luc Dubois for what is now a backup goalie. Those are the types of trades the Leafs will need to make if they have any hope of competing moving forward.
Washington, as an organization, has also not been hesitant to keep the bigger picture in mind and has sold a few times over the past few years, despite hovering right around the playoff cut line. If they aren’t truly competitive, they aren’t fooled.
What gives me pause:
Of course, the Capitals sold in three of the past four years because they haven’t been all that competitive. They’ve made the playoffs four times in the past six seasons and have gone to the second round just once, all while playing in a far inferior division than the Leafs. They have made a number of smart moves in that time, yes, but it hasn’t actually translated to much of anything.
Jason Spezza
Current: Assistant General Manager, Pittsburgh Penguins and General Manager, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins
Past: Special Assistant to the GM; former player (including with the Leafs)
Bio:
Following an NHL career that spanned 1,248 games, Jason Spezza retired and joined Kyle Dubas in the Leafs front office for the 2022-23 season as a special assistant to the GM. When Dubas departed from Toronto, Spezza resigned and joined him with the Pittsburgh Penguins as an assistant GM in June 2023. Spezza further established himself as a key cog in the Pens’ system by taking on the role of GM of the AHL’s Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins ahead of 2024-25.
What I like:
Spezza’s Wilkes-Barre/Scranton team enjoyed a great season, finishing third overall in the league, sixth in goals for, and second in goals against. He has been working his way up to a GM job since he hung up his skates and has approached it diligently. Spezza is highly regarded in hockey management circles and widely viewed as a future GM around the league; when someone of that description is available for promotion, I tend to ask myself, why not now, then?
There’s an interesting angle that Spezza also played for this team recently. He’s going to have some familiarity with the room, and the team needs to potentially hit the ground running. Spezza will obviously be keenly aware of the market as well, which is a plus. Nothing can truly prepare someone to be GM of the Leafs, but given he played and (briefly) managed here, he’s as close as can be.
What gives me pause:
Inexperience for the job itself aside, it’s hard to imagine Spezza would be able to poach any talent to come with him, given he’s new to his role in his own right. It’s not a prerequisite to come ready to go with a full management team, but it certainly helps to have a network to tap into and build with.
While we framed it positively in the section above, you can also argue that his familiarity with certain players in the Leafs’ room can lead to biases. Is there loyalty or blind spots? It would only be natural if so.
Speczza has been putting in the work to prepare to be a GM, but this is only his fourth year; even compared to other candidates, he has far less overall management experience than pretty much all of them. There’s green, and then there’s this green.
Judd Moldaver
Current: Executive Vice President, Hockey at The Team
Bio:
Moldaver grew up in the Lawrence Park neighborhood in Toronto, went to Upper Canada College, and played Division III hockey at Colby College in Maine. He completed a junior-year internship with IMG in New York, leading to a job with IMG in 2004 after graduation. Two years later, he moved to CAA and remained there until he joined the Wasserman Group, now known as The Team.
What I like:
Player agents-turned-General Managers have really taken off in the league of late, from Bill Zito to Kent Hughes, to even Kyle Dubas, and once upon a time, so too was Mike Gillis. Agents appear to have a good eye for identifying disgruntled or available players and swinging trades. There’s a salesperson skill set required in that career that helps with recruiting, and Moldaver, in particular, represents some significant players, including Connor McDavid and Auston Matthews. Frankly, the hoopla around the Leafs employing McDavid’s current agent as GM might be worth it alone. Moldover’s clientele is impressive and speaks to his own relentless ability to recruit and build an empire.
It’s also worth noting that Moldaver released a strongly worded statement after the Radko Gudas hit on Auston Matthews, showing more gumption than anyone who has worked in the Leafs front office since Brian Burke.
What gives me pause:
This one is pretty simple: Moldaver has never worked in an NHL front office. As noted, tons of agents have successfully transitioned to management, so it’s not a huge leap to believe any notable agent could do it at this point, but until they do, the question mark is always going to be there. The job of GM, especially in Toronto, involves far more than simply negotiating contracts — handling the media, building a team that fits together, scouting, developing prospects, and so on. Moldaver is a complete wildcard.
Laurence Gilman
Current: Vice President of Hockey Operations with the Columbus Blue Jackets
Bio (courtesy Columbus Blue Jackets):
Laurence Gilman joined the Columbus Blue Jackets as Vice President of Hockey Operations on January 6, 2026, and brings more than two decades of management experience to the club. He will assist the President of Hockey Operations, Don Waddell, in all areas of the department, including issues related to the Collective Bargaining Agreement, contract negotiations, arbitration matters, and more.
Gilman began his National Hockey League management career with the Winnipeg Jets in 1994 and remained with the organization when the club relocated to Phoenix in 1996. He served as director of hockey operations for the Coyotes from 1998-01, vice president of hockey operations and assistant general manager from 2001-05 and senior vice president of hockey operations and assistant general from 2005-07.
Gilman joined the Vancouver Canucks as vice president of hockey operations and assistant general manager in 2008 and spent seven seasons with the club. During his tenure, Vancouver won five-straight Pacific Division titles from 2008-13, captured back-to-back Presidents’ Trophies in 2010-11 and 2011-12 and advanced to the 2011 Stanley Cup Final.
The Winnipeg, Manitoba native most recently spent six seasons in the Toronto Maple Leafs organization as assistant general manager from 2018-22 and senior vice president of hockey operations for the American Hockey League’s Toronto Marlies from 2022-24. The Leafs qualified for the Stanley Cup Playoffs in each of his four seasons with the club, while the Marlies competed in the Calder Cup Playoffs in 2022-23 and 2023-24 and won the North Division title in 2022-23.
What I like:
It would be hard to talk about Mike Gillis’ NHL career without mentioning Laurence Gilman. The biggest positive is that the two have worked closely together previously and have had success. Any GM building out an organization would naturally want to surround themselves with people they trust, and Gillis obviously trusts Gilman, which is honestly his biggest pro.
Not only has Gilman stayed involved in hockey since detaching from Gillis, but he also worked with the Leafs, so he has a good idea of the team, the market, and the resources available. One would think he, too, could hit the ground running.
What gives me pause:
Gilman is 61 years old and has never been a GM before. He’s not exactly a spring chicken at this point, or even a hungry up-and-comer. Maybe everyone has been sleeping on him all this time, or maybe he has been slotted at his peak, and he is what he is at this point.
