Kyle Dubas & Brendan Shanahan

GENERAL MANAGER & PRESIDENT, TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS

what’s more stressful than leading the Leafs when they’re terrible? Doing it when they’re good. That privilege falls to Shanahan and Dubas, his 32-year-old rookie GM, who have given a few million hockey obsessives reason to live again. This summer, with the team looking like a Stanley Cup maybe, they signed John Tavares to a gigantic seven-year, $77-million (U.S.) contract, giving the team three all-star snipers. They’re changing the organization in other ways, too: Dubas hired Hayley Wickenheiser, former captain of Team Canada, as assistant director of player development, and after instituting a “name-blind” hiring policy, brought on Noelle Needham, a former player from Minnesota State, as a scout. up next: Flair. Dubas’s predecessor, Lou Lamoriello, was known for his cultural straitjacket approach— no beards, no flash and no interviews beyond the daily beat reporter hits—but Dubas believes that a player performs best when he can express himself. Hence, a GQ spread featuring Auston Matthews in September, and Mitch Marner rocking a camouflage suit with leopard-print shoes during the pre-season.