New addition to the front office
Kyle Dubas has been busy since being named GM of the Leafs earlier this month. Dubas adds ex-Canucks, Coyotes exec Gilman as assistant GM
With Laurence Gilman and Brandon Pridham now named as his top assistants, general manager Kyle Dubas has firmly taken control with quick-strike moves to fill the holes left by the departures of Lou Lamoriello and Mark Hunter.
That would appear to be it, at least for the time being, in terms of high-level change in the Maple Leafs’ front office as Dubas looks toward the June draft.
“For now, I have a great deal of trust in our area directors in scouting and we’re very focused on getting ready for the draft,” said Dubas, travelling with the Marlies on their Calder Cup run. “We’re very happy to be able to move Brandon up (from assistant to the general manager) and add Laurence.
“I wanted to keep everything progressing, but as we get to the summer, if there are people I think can add to the organization, I think we’ll explore all of those. But I don’t anticipate anything imminent.”
The Leafs will choose 25th. Other than saying he likes “good players,” Dubas was uncomfortable speaking about what kind of players the Leafs will be looking for, unwilling to “expose to the hockey world your whole strategy.” Dubas was also mum on whether there were any con- tract talks pending with restricted free agent William Nylander. Dubas’s comments came Thursday, his first interview since Lamoriello and Hunter left the organization; Gilman and Pridham fill those gaps.
“Everything that we’ll do, we’ll be working as a team,” Dubas said. “Laurence’s experience in hockey goes far beyond contract work. And Brandon does contract research and handling the CBA-related items, but his experience goes beyond that.
“If you have two people who are great at one thing and have many other strengths, that only helps the organization. We’ll lean on each other for everything we do.”
Gilman, named Thursday to the post of assistant GM, has a wealth of experience in hockey operations, scouting and player development from his years mainly with the Vancouver Canucks and Phoenix Coyotes.
Gilman will hold multiple responsibilities, including player personnel, managing the club’s player development department and farm system and overseeing the organization’s top prospects. He’ll also run the Marlies next season.
“As I went through the checklist of things we’re going to need to fill in and the different areas of expertise we’d need, he checked those boxes,” Dubas said.
Pridham, promoted Wednesday, has been with Dubas in the Toronto organization for four years, knowing the ins and outs of the salary cap and collective bargaining agreement with a reputation as a top mind throughout the league.
“Brandon and I have worked closely the last four years,” said Dubas. “We share an office at the MasterCard Centre. We’ve come to enjoy each other’s company, and bouncing (ideas) back and forth. I’ve gained a great deal of respect for him, his knowledge of the league, his knowledge of players. Everyone has him stereotyped as a capguy, but he broke into the NHL as a scouting co-ordinator.”