These are not the best of times for the presidents who occupy top billing with Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment.
Is there a Lamoriello out there? The Edmonton Oilers went in that direction in hiring Ken Holland, who has had slightly more success than Dubas, with Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl in his stable. Are there any other legendary general managers hanging around the NHL right now? Most of them are faceless former players like Don Sweeney or Jim Nill. Some are former stars like Steve Yzerman or Ron Francis or Rob Blake or Joe Sakic. Two-thirds of the NHL GMs played professional hockey.
The days of the NHL being occupied by power players such as Harry Sinden, Glen Sather, Cliff Fletcher and Bill Torrey are no more. You can’t go and steal a Fletcher the way the Leafs managed in 1991. Or maybe you can. Ujiri has to find a way to replace Nick Nurse, who was central to that fabulous championship run of 2019. Ujiri was enormous too in that victory. He traded for Kawhi Leonard when that seemed impossible. He traded at the deadline for Marc Gasol. If he doesn’t make those two moves, there is no run, no celebration. And if he doesn’t hire Nurse, the same is true.
Toronto FC is so far away from that. This is Manning’s biggest mess. He is president of the soccer team and the CFL’s Argonauts. The Argos are coming off an unlikely Grey Cup win in a city that seems to shrug at the successes of its oldest franchise. The Argos’ problems are almost unsolvable. But with TFC, it’s about a product that is borderline terrible.What’s more discouraging about TFC is that they have the second-worst record in MLS while spending the most on payroll.
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