The Maple Leafs continue to build out their new front office with the hiring of Dan Palango as Director of Amateur Scouting, Brad Rossen as Vice President of Research & Development, and JP Perpich as Director of U.S. Amateur Scouting.
More and more, this is looking like an organizational realignment — a redefinition of roles, with the new leadership regime bringing in trusted staff with whom they have pre-existing relationships, which is standard after a management overhaul — rather than any sort of substantial cost-cutting effort. By our rough count, among the Leafs‘ staff listings in their “Front Office and Hockey Operations” department on their website before and after the John Chayka hiring, it’s eight personnel out and eight personnel in so far this offseason, with likely a Hayley Wickenheiser replacement still to come in player development (notably, Bryan McCabe just left the Panthers organization…).
Instead of a half-dozen assistant general managers, the organizational structure now consists of a GM, an executive advisor, two assistant GMs, a Chief of Staff, and a collection of directors with specialized responsibilities.
| Previous | Current |
|---|---|
| Brad Treliving, GM | John Chayka, GM |
| Special Advisor to the GM, Shane Doan | Senior Executive Advisor, Mats Sundin |
| AGM, Brandon Pridham | AGM, Player Evaluation, Judd Brackett |
| AGM, Minor League Operations & GM, Toronto Marlies, Ryan Hardy | AGM, Minor League Operations & GM, Toronto Marlies, Ryan Hardy |
| AGM, Hockey Research & Development, Darryl Metcalf | Vice President, Research & Development, Brad Rossen |
| AGM, Player Development, Hayley Wickenheiser | |
| AGM, Player Personnel, Derek Clancey | Director of Player Personnel, Jeremiah Crowe |
| Senior Advisor, Player Personnel, Dave Morrison | Chief of Staff, Freddie Hamilton |
| Director of Amateur Scouting, Mark Leach | Director of Amateur Scouting, Dan Palango |
There is no single best way to structure a professional hockey organization, and there wasn’t necessarily anything inherently wrong with the Leafs‘ previous setup that meant it couldn’t have worked under stronger leadership than the franchise had during Brad Treliving’s tenure as general manager. In some respects, liberally handing out AGM titles had its advantages. For one, it could help retain talented staff, knowing the only higher title available (at least on paper) was general manager. Combined with the Leafs‘ financial resources to pay front-office personnel more than competitively, that structure may have made it easier to retain institutional knowledge. Under John Chayka, however, there already appears to be more differentiation between roles and a clearer organizational hierarchy.
More than anything, though, this is about new leadership bringing in its own people.
New assistant GM Judd Brackett (Player Evaluation) has a long-standing relationship with the Leafs‘ new Director of Amateur Scouting, Dan Palango. The two worked closely together in both Vancouver and Minnesota, and Palango now arrives in Toronto after nearly two decades as an amateur scout following a 13-year career as a player agent.
Brackett alluded to productive but “challenging” conversations after taking over his new role in Toronto. Not long after the draft, former Director of Amateur Scouting Mark Leach was let go, and Brackett’s longtime colleague from Vancouver and Minnesota has now taken over the position. The Leafs‘ new Director of U.S. Amateur Scouting, JP Perpich, is also a former Wild scout who worked closely alongside Brackett.
Unsurprisingly, new Vice President of Research & Development Brad Rossen previously worked under Chayka in Arizona as Director of Statistical Analysis after a year as a statistical analyst at Chayka’s company, Stathletes. He also worked alongside Ryan Minicola — the Leafs’ current Assistant Director of Video and Scouting Analysis; both are Peterborough area natives — with the Coyotes. As of now, Toronto has retained just two analysts within its R&D department, Lou Farah and Jill Reiner, although Rossen may ultimately build out a larger supporting staff.
Amid the sweeping management changes, the turnover in the Director of Amateur Scouting position will be one of the more interesting storylines to monitor over the coming years.
Leach spent just two drafts in Toronto after lengthy tenures with the Dallas Stars and Detroit Red Wings, two organizations widely regarded as among the league’s best drafting teams during his time there. His first draft with the Leafs is difficult to evaluate, even setting aside the fact that it has been just over a year. Toronto technically made six selections, which sounds respectable on paper, but only two came within the top 136 picks, with the club’s first selection not arriving until No. 64 overall. Even so, that pick — Tinus Luc Koblar — already looks promising a little over a year later.
It would be even more premature to judge the 2026 draft class under Leach, but the group has generally been well received by both the fan base and independent draft analysts.
After graduating so many players during the early Matthews era, the Leafs simply haven’t drafted and developed well enough in recent years, making it difficult to argue against a change in direction. There is also enough in the track records of Brackett and Palango from their time in Vancouver and Minnesota to believe they can successfully identify future NHL talent for the organization. That said, Leach was a recent hire who was only beginning to establish himself in the role, and his résumé stacks up favorably against just about any amateur scout in the league.
