Hunter: Leafs face challenge signing stars
Former assistant GM says keeping the team’s young core intact will be difficult
Former Toronto Maple Leafs executive Mark Hunter knows Kyle Dubas’ biggest issue is keeping together the team’s core of young players, namely William Nylander, Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner.
“Oooh, big, big (challenge),” said Hunter, in Toronto for the PrimeTime Sports Management Conference at the Westin Harbour Castle, but choosing his words carefully when speaking about his former employer. “It’s easy to look back, but last spring was the time.”
Signing young stars before they hit free agency — even restricted free agency — is typical of the way teams try to operate, but it didn’t happen that way for the Leafs. Whatever has transpired between the Leafs and the agents of the big three, nothing has come of it. And their prices, if anything, are probably rising.
Matthews and Marner are in the final year of their entry-level contracts and will be in line for big raises. Nylander, meanwhile, remains unsigned and faces a Dec. 1 deadline to be on an NHL roster to be eligible to play.
“That’s a tough situation now. He’s a hell of a player,” Hunter said of Nylander. “People say trade him. Yeah, but who are you going to replace him with? He’s a topend player. Everybody talks about one (bad) playoff round. One playoff round is not going to define a top-end star player like him.”
Hunter is back running the London Knights — the Ontario Hockey League team he co-owns — having left his post as assistant general manager of the Maple Leafs when Dubas was chosen over him as successor to former GM Lou Lamoriello.
And while he was careful with his words while talking about the state of the Maple Leafs, he was gushing with praise for two of his favourite subjects: Marner and Lamoriello.
During the conference — run by former Leafs GM Brian Burke — Burke asked Hunter about drafting Marner fourth overall in 2015. Burke said he thought the Leafs were wrong to take the scrawny Marner over defenceman Noah Hanifin, “but it’s worked out pretty well.”
That got a laugh, but Hunter went deeper.
“I used some inside information,” said Hunter, who had drafted Marner to the Knights a couple of years previous. “I knew his makeup and I knew his desire. Scouts have to make sure what you’re getting. You have to improve, you have to keep getting better, you have to want to win.
“We won a Memorial Cup. He’ll keep pushing to win a Stanley Cup, because that’s what he’s all about. Scouts have to find that inner desire.”
Marner led the Leafs in scoring last season and is second to Morgan Rielly this season, thriving especially when Matthews has been injured.
“He just keeps pushing the envelope about trying to get better,” Hunter said of Marner. “He wants to be ‘The Guy.’ That’s a credit to him. He wants to be in a leadership role. More and more, in time, they’ll give him that. He’ll blossom more if they give him more of a leadership role.”
The knock on Marner is his shot. He’s crafty, smooth, sees the ice well and is a speedy skater but his shot is not particularly hard nor does it surprise goalies.
“His shot has gotten better,” said Hunter. “He still needs to work on it. In time, he’ll improve that more — when to shoot, when to pass.”
Hunter disclosed some information about the secretive Lamoriello, saying the “old school” GM who now runs the New York Islanders is more into analytics than he’s given credit for.
“He kept notes, past things players have done, scoring, shots,” said Hunter. “It shocked me how (many) notes he kept to back up that player. He followed Corsi, puck possession. He was all into it.
“I shouldn’t be telling you any of this. You know how secretive he is. But I see some people criticize him, but no, he’s all over statistics. The stuff is on his table on Monday morning. And he goes through it.”
Hunter, who also has an “old school” reputation due to his passion for scouting, was also ahead of the curve in his early days running the Knights, matching video with data.
“I felt good when I saw Lou do his business. It confirmed what you’re doing yourself,” Hunter said. He also credited Lamoriello’s secretive side.
“I think sometimes in the business, you don’t have to tell everybody how smart you are,” Hunter said in the conference, adding afterwards, “I just think sometimes the old school is a lot more quiet. The younger school talks a lot more about what they’re going to do, and how they’re doing things. Lou didn’t talk about himself, but credit where credit is due. That’s why he’s still in the business. He’s right on top of things. He’s in analytics. He knows what’s going on.”
Hunter said he’d like to get back in the NHL one day, but is happy with his Knights.
“We all know how hard it is to get in, in the right position. You always look at things. It’s got to be the right position for myself,” said Hunter. “If you enjoy hockey, you want to be involved in hockey. I still go back there (to London) and enjoy it from top to bottom.”