Leafs linked to a GM who has been out of the NHL for 12 years

Last night the the Toronto Maple Leafs finally, mercifully dismissed GM Brad Treliving.

CEO Keith Pelley is reportedly wasting no time in holding people accountable and Treliving was the first person to walk the plank for the Leafs' wasted 2025-26 season.

While most of the speculation and reporting in the past day has been on who's next to face the axe in Toronto, there's still a big question out there: Who will be the next GM of the Leafs?

There are rumors that Pelley has spoken to long-time St. Louis Blues executive Doug Armstrong, but the 61 year old Armstrong has also lined up a nice little gig for him as the Blues' Director of Hockey Operations starting next season.

Former Leafs assistant GM Mark Hunter is an option. Dismissed by the team when they opted to go with Kyle Dubas as their GM in 2018, Hunter returned to the OHL's London Knights where he has continued a long run of success as co-owner of the team with his brother Dale Hunter, the Knights' head coach.

Then there's Hall of Famer Chris Pronger. The former defenseman has been working behind the scenes in hockey for the better part of a decade now and looks like he's ready to make the jump to a more defined management role. The question is... is he ready for the responsibility of a full scale rebuild?

Interestingly enough, there are plenty of rumors circulating today that the Leafs are interested in former Vancouver Canucks GM Mike Gillis.

"One of the names that is kinda floating around because they're interested in what he did in past job, I think potentially is Mike Gillis," said NHL insider Elliotte Friedman earlier today. "That's a name that they have kind of look at...I don't know if it's going to be Gillis but he's the kind of person they've been looking at."

That's right... the same Mike Gillis who hasn't worked in the NHL since 2014.

In his press conference today, Pelley made it clear that the Leafs' next GM will be someone who prioritizes using data in their day to day decision making.

"They have to be data centric, they have to really understand data and the importance of data and where data is moving," Pelley said. "We've just completed a complete rebuild of TFC (Toronto FC), all using data combined with cultural checks."

Sounds like Gillis to me...