On Doug Armstrong, arguably the best GM in the NHL, mentioned as a GM candidate for the Maple Leafs. I wouldn’t anticipate him responding publicly to any reports or rumors. But the idea of Army working under a President, in this case Brendan Shanahan, is a very unlikely scenario
On Doug Armstrong, arguably the best GM in the #NHL, mentioned as a GM candidate for the Maple Leafs. I wouldn’t anticipate him responding publicly to any reports or rumors. But the idea of Army working under a President, in this case Brendan Shanahan, is a very unlikely scenario
— Andy Strickland (@andystrickland) May 20, 2023
by STLBooze3
3 Comments
Also add the fact that he’s also under contract. You can’t take our BDD!
Just curious, how did you get to arguably the best GM in the NHL?
I really doubt that Toronto are interested; it doesn’t seem like a fit for either side.
Talking about how he’d have to give up control as a GM in Toronto compared to StL is only half the story; he’d be leaving a relaxed media market, to massively increased scrutiny with that less control. The boat loads of cash and “romance” of leading a Canadian team to the Cup might be attractive enough to overlook that though.
I don’t that Armstrong really fits in Toronto either. Despite being one of the best in the business, the areas he’s struggled with in St. Louis are areas that Toronto are facing.
We struggled to find a goalie for a long time. It was only resolved when Armstrong was literally forced to call up Binnington because our NHL goalies were an absolute shitshow. We had explicitly told Binnington that he didn’t have a future with the organisation a few months prior. Maybe the TO starter has fallen into their lap with Woll, but if not then I’m not sure that Armstrong is the guy to find you a goalie.
The other issue is that we let a top-10 Dman in the League walk as a UFA because, in part, Armstrong refused to give him a NMC. That philosophy is archiac; NMCs are a fairly normal part of contracts for “elite” players. With the Matthews and Marner extensions looming, it’s be weird to go after a GM where you’d expect him to change his philosophy on contracts… because both players have NMCs for the UFA years and will likely expect the same in their next deals.