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Lou Lamoriello named Leaf GM

So what you're telling me is a day after they hired one of the most secretive men in the sport, we're getting speculation and rumours? So no.

Tom Gulitti
I wouldn't rule out David Conte joining Maple Leafs, but if he does my guess is it will be in more of a consultant/advisor role in scouting.

Conte was talking about cutting back on his workload at some point anyway. Didn't get chance to make transition plan before being let go.
 
Preston_Mizzi said:
Dave Morrison fired and it looks like they're making room for the worst scout in hockey, Dave Conte.

Still not concerned?
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That hasn't been confirmed yet.

Can't see it happening when he survived the great purge, and just got signed to a 2-year contract extension a few weeks ago.
 
JackBurton said:
Love this Spector article from a couple of months ag...

http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/why-mike-babcock-wont-end-up-with-maple-leafs/
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Best quote from that article...

"The Leafs job is not one that an established, veteran GM will take. It will be a first-timer, and the Mike Babcock I know won’t go into a dysfunctional situation with a rookie GM, a paucity of young, star players, and an on-ice leadership group that proved to be a train wreck last year.

Sorry, Leafs fans."
 
Preston_Mizzi said:
Dave Morrison fired and it looks like they're making room for the worst scout in hockey, Dave Conte.

Still not concerned?
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What has Dave Morrison done to keep his job in Toronto? Our drafting has been a key reason for 10 years of meh/suck. Even if we bring Conte in, it's still Hunter's show.
 
@APetrielli
Just received word from Dave Morrison that he has not been let go.

They are saying he has just been reassigned. Technically he was already replaced by Hunter anyway.
 
I'm honestly not really sure what to make of Dave Morrison. Our drafting strategy and the type of players the team prefers to target has shifted pretty noticeably everytime a new guy's been put in charge of hockey operations, so I doubt that Morrison's ever enjoyed anything resembling the autonomy that Hunter has in player selection.

And even so, we have made some good picks during Morrison's tenure. Nazem Kadri was a very good one---especially when you look at the guys picked after Kadri in that draft. I'm sure everybody's thrilled with the Rielly pick. Then of course, there's Willie Nylander last season. Nylander was a Thommie Bergman pick, no doubt, but as the director of amateur scouting, you'd think that Morrison would have had to sign off on taking him, instead of a North American like Nick Ritchie, with a crucial top-10 pick. Rinat Valiev likewise is looking like a good grab with our 3rd round pick last year.

In the end, no matter what else you can say about the guy, it's clear that Mark Hunter believes he has value. He not only wasn't fired, but was just recently given a two-year contract extension. And I could understand someone being concerned with him getting replaced with David Conte. If you stack up Conte and Morrison's recent records at the draft, Morrison blows Conte away, even though the Leafs haven't been a model of excellent drafting over the years.
 
'm honestly not really sure what to make of Dave Morrison. Our drafting strategy and the type of players the team prefers to target has shifted pretty noticeably everytime a new guy's been put in charge of hockey operations, so I doubt that Morrison's ever enjoyed anything resembling the autonomy that Hunter has in player selection.

And even so, we have made some good picks during Morrison's tenure. Nazem Kadri was a very good one---especially when you look at the guys picked after Kadri in that draft. I'm sure everybody's thrilled with the Rielly pick. Then of course, there's Willie Nylander last season. Nylander was a Thommie Bergman pick, no doubt, but as the director of amateur scouting, you'd think that Morrison would have had to sign off on taking him, instead of a North American like Nick Ritchie, with a crucial top-10 pick. Rinat Valiev likewise is looking like a good grab with our 3rd round pick last year.

In the end, no matter what else you can say about the guy, it's clear that Mark Hunter believes he has value. He not only wasn't fired, but was just recently given a two-year contract extension. And I could understand someone being concerned with him getting replaced with David Conte. If you stack up Conte and Morrison's recent records at the draft, Morrison blows Conte away, even though the Leafs haven't been a model of excellent drafting over the years.
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I think getting your first round picks right is the bare minimum our head of scouting should have as a job description. The problem is, past those choices it's a bit of a wasteland under Morrison's watch.
 
TimHorton said:
I think getting your first round picks right is the bare minimum our head of scouting should have as a job description. The problem is, past those choices it's a bit of a wasteland under Morrison's watch.
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He has found some useful NHLers past the first round. And recently, Connor Brown (156th), Bibeau (172nd) & Valiev (68th) look like they could be pretty good picks, relative to where we got them. No doubt that it hasn't been good enough though, which is why the overall responsibility for our drafting and scouting is in Hunter's hands now.

And I wouldn't really bat an eye if they demoted him from his current position to being just one of our amateur scouts. Though I'd prefer that Conte not be the guy to take over Morrison's current position.
 
We seem to have the same mantra about Morrison's drafts every few years though. Not a lot of actual success stories to speak of (outside of Thommie's euro picks), but current prospects we're hopeful for in the system.

Morrison has been head of amateur scouting since 2006. Since 06, here's our best picks after the 1st round:

06

Kulemin
Stalberg
Komarov

07

Frattin
Gunnarsson


08

Jimmy Hayes


Yep...that's it. If it wasn't for Thommie, we would have produced roughly 2 players since 06 outside of the 1st round.

In that same time period, a team with a fraction the financial resources, Tampa Bay has produced: Killorn, Gudas, Palat, Kucherov, Nesterov...and they're not exactly known as a scouting powerhouse. The ****ing Senators have produced Condra, Gryba, Wiercioch, Smith, Hoffman, Lehner, Silfverberg, Stone, & Pageau on a shoestring budget.
 
Oh Morrison should be let go, definitely.

But Conte is an abomination. If they bring him in, you just know he's going to have Lou's ear during draft time just as much if not more than Hunts. Let's hope it isn't true.
 
Preston_Mizzi said:
Oh Morrison should be let go, definitely.

But Conte is an abomination. If they bring him in, you just know he's going to have Lou's ear during draft time just as much if not more than Hunts. Let's hope it isn't true.
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There's no reason to believe that Lamoriello's being brought in to relieve Hunter from his responsibility of overseeing the draft & scouting staff.

If Conte does show up here, he's likely just going to be another scout working on Hunter's staff.
 
hockeylover said:
Conte was pretty vocal that he didn't believe in advanced stats so I can't see him being brought in.
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Yeah I don't care what role he's brought in on, I don't want any voices as idiotic as his. Him and Lou have a long history, of course he's going to take his thoughts into account. I'm not saying it's the end of the world because they do have a lot of smart people around Lou, but I feel like they are taking a little step back after all the progress they've made. It's another small step back if Conte is hired.

With that said they're in a much better position now than they were a year ago, that's for sure.
 
If they bring him in, you just know he's going to have Lou's ear during draft time just as much if not more than Hunts.
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I'm not suggesting that Conte would be a good idea here, he wouldn't, but what has been said in recent days that would suggest that this would matter? The Shanaplan has not changed.

Think of Lou like a more competent version of Nonis. Nonis wouldn't have mattered at the draft, and neither will Lou for the most part. That's not what he was brought here for.
 
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