Maple Leafs shock hockey world, name long-time Devil Lou Lamoriello as GM
The Maple Leafs' rebuild took a shocking turn Thursday when they announced Lou Lamoriello, the long-time Devils executive, will jump to Toronto to become the 16th general manager in team history.
The Lamoriello hire was a stunning move, as the 72-year-old spent his entire NHL career with New Jersey, serving as president and general manager -- and, at times, interim head coach -- for the Devils for 28 years while helping the team to three Stanley Cup championships.
"Lou Lamoriello created and defined what it meant to be a New Jersey Devil,” Devils co-owner Josh Harris said in a statement. "His brilliance in shaping this franchise into one of the most storied and celebrated organizations in sport will make him a New Jersey Devil for life. He represented this organization, our current and former players, the state of New Jersey, and the greatest fans in the National Hockey League in a manner that exemplified character, class, and dignity."
Lamoriello will replace Dave Nonis as general manager of the Leafs and will be the fifth general manager to serve Toronto in the past 10 years.
It is unknown how amicable Lamoriello's departure from the Devils' organization truly was. In May, Lamoriello told reporters he wouldn't be going anywhere despite hiring Shero. Lamoriello announced Shero's hiring himself and gave no hint of any trouble behind the scenes.
"I think we have to be realistic in life in different areas and be honest and right now this is the perfect time and the perfect person with great experience [in Shero]," Lamoriello said on a conference call about the Shero hiring in May.
But reporter Steve Politi of The Star Ledger claimed the move was not Lamoriello's choice.
"He might have picked Ray Shero as the man who will replace him as general manager, but owners Josh Harris and David Blitzer made it clear that they wanted a new voice in personnel.
"They forced his hand here. The days of 'In Lou We Trust,' a motto that became a terrific website, had eroded badly over the past few seasons. It wasn't just that the Devils were losing — Harris and Blitzer have done nothing but collect losses as owners of the 76ers — it was the lack of a reasonable plan to turn it around."
In July, another pillar of the Lamoriello empire in New Jersey came crumbling down when director of scouting Dave Conte was fired after 31 seasons with the team. Conte denied any issues behind the scenes, but he made it clear that loyalty to Lamoriello didn't have the same meaning with the team's new organization.
"Obviously the loyalty I had for Lou is not reciprocal from the new person. I guess I can understand that," Conte told NJ.com. "I don't feel acrimonious. I worry about the people who worked around me."
Still, it was difficult to foresee this move by Lamoriello, who has enjoyed a lengthy career with multiple championships. He is at an age where it would not have been surprising to see him retire rather than take a new job.
But apparently, the competitive fires burn strong, and Lamoriello has his work cut out for him with his new team.
Lamoriello joins a Toronto organization that will look to completely reconstruct the Maple Leafs. Brendan Shanahan, who was named president and alternate governor of the Maple Leafs in April of 2014, leads that rebuild, and Shanahan and Lamoriello have a long history together. Shanahan was drafted by the Devils in 1987, the same year as Lamoriello took over as Devils GM, and he played for Lamoriello at two different points through his career.
Shanahan reportedly spent weeks courting Lamoriello as the new Toronto GM.
Meanwhile, the Toronto media seemed to be caught by surprise by the move. The Leafs hired Mike Babcock as their new head coach earlier this summer, and both Babcock and Shanahan have reputations for getting heavily involved in any personnel moves. So Toronto was operating without an official GM, using wunderkid Kyle Dubas and new NHL executive Mark Hunter as co-interim GMs.
It worked at the time. The group was able to trade Phil Kessel, a tough task which many in Toronto nevertheless saw as an essential step in rebuilding the team, on the first day of free agency. But while Hunter and Dubas proved they can get a difficult job done, they are both relatively new to the executive world. Lamoriello adds experience to that group, as do Babcock and Shanahan.
It seems there are a lot of voices in the Toronto front office, but there remains a lot of work left to do in order to change the direction of the organization. Only time will tell as to whether this expanding group will be able to accomplish that task.
