Hunter could be an in-house fit for GM post
The Toronto Maple Leafs have found their head coach. Now, it’s time for them to find a general manager. That is, if they haven’t found one already.
While everyone from Los Angeles’ Mike Futa and Tampa Bay’s Julien BriseBois to George McPhee and Sean Burke have been linked as a possible candidate to lead the Leafs, there is ample speculation that interim co-general manager Mark Hunter could have the “interim” tag in his current title lifted.
“I think he’s a natural fit,” said Erie Otters general manager Sherry Bassin. “I pride myself on working hard. If there was one guy I could not outwork, it was Mark.”
“If I were in ownership and I needed somebody for my evaluation of talent, he’s one of the best,” said player agent Don Meehan.
Hunter, hired as the Leafs director of player personnel in October, was a general manager in junior hockey for more than a decade. He helped build the London Knights into what Ontario Hockey League commissioner David Branch called “the centre of hockey.”.
But aside from a stint as a head coach in the American Hockey League, Hunter has previously never worked in pro hockey.
“There’s a big difference in being the general manager of a junior team and the general manager of an NHL team,” said Pittsburgh Penguins general manager Jim Rutherford. “Being a GM in the NHL now is a complex job, with the salary cap and everything that goes with it. But certainly (Hunter) is a well-respected hockey guy. The background that he has, he won’t have any issues at all.”