{"id":535678,"date":"2026-04-02T00:32:36","date_gmt":"2026-04-02T00:32:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/535678\/"},"modified":"2026-04-02T00:32:36","modified_gmt":"2026-04-02T00:32:36","slug":"three-former-oilers-bloggers-among-potential-maple-leafs-gm-options","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/535678\/","title":{"rendered":"Three former Oilers bloggers among potential Maple Leafs GM options"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The National Hockey League\u2019s latest vacancy for a general manager opened up Monday with the Toronto Maple Leafs\u2019 firing of Brad Treliving.<\/p>\n<p>After two seasons of strong regular seasons, but more early playoff exits, and a 2025-26 campaign in which the Leafs plummeted down the NHL standings, the plug was pulled.<\/p>\n<p>Maple Leafs Sports and Entertainment president and CEO Keith Pelley held a brutally honest press conference Tuesday, adamant the team wouldn\u2019t tank down the stretch run of the season, and about what he envisions in his next general manager of the Leafs.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey have to be data-centric,\u201d said Pelley, via <a class=\"text-accent\" href=\"https:\/\/theleafsnation.com\/news\/keith-pelley-wont-commit-hiring-president-hockey-operations-data-centric\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">TheLeafsNation<\/a>. \u201cThey have to really understand the importance of data and where data is moving. We have just completed a complete rebuild of TFC (Toronto FC), all using data combined with cultural checks. That\u2019s what we will do, and every single decision we make will be evidence-based.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEvidence-based decisions are never wrong, and that\u2019s not to say there\u2019s not room for the heart, not to say there\u2019s no room to check culture, but it\u2019s all evidence-based.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The comments imply Treliving may not have been as on board as the organization wanted him to be, and offer somewhat of a smoke signal to potential candidates. Teams around the league have made significant pushes in recent years to round out their analytics and data departments, including the Edmonton Oilers. What was once a small part of the front office has only grown in size, with the hires of CapFriendly co-founder <a class=\"text-accent\" href=\"https:\/\/oilersnation.com\/news\/edmonton-oilers-announce-changes-and-additions-to-hockey-operations-department\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Dominik Zrim<\/a> and former Oilers blogger <a class=\"text-accent\" href=\"https:\/\/oilersnation.com\/news\/edmonton-oilers-hire-michael-parkatti-as-senior-director-of-data-and-analytics\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Michael Parkatti<\/a> in recent years.Three potential candidates for the vacant Leafs GM role have ties to the world of Oilers blogs, The Nation Network\u2019s Jeff Marek reported, as <a class=\"text-accent\" href=\"https:\/\/oilersnation.com\/news\/edmonton-oilers-and-the-eye-test\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Tim Barnes<\/a>, <a class=\"text-accent\" href=\"https:\/\/oilersnation.com\/news\/oilers-part-ways-with-analytics-guru-tyler-dellow\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Tyler Dellow<\/a> and Sunny Mehta \u2014 all assistant general managers in the league \u2014 could be options.<\/p>\n<p class=\"tweet-body_root__o7v_S\" lang=\"en\" dir=\"auto\">Based on the &#8216;data centric&#8217; criteria Keith Pelley laid out for next Leafs GM the candidates are (all working at AGM level) &#8211; Tim Barnes (WSH), Tyler Dellow (CAR), Alexandra Mandrycky (SEA), Sunny Mehta (FLA), Darryl Metcalf (TOR). <\/p>\n<p>Will the Leafs go this direction?<\/p>\n<p>Oilersnation wants to hear from you, the reader, in our new weekly \u201c<a class=\"text-accent\" href=\"https:\/\/oilersnation.com\/news\/oilersnation-wants-your-letters-to-the-editor\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Letters to the Editor<\/a>\u201d segment. Letters can be emailed to Oilersnation\u2019s managing editor Zach Laing (<a class=\"text-accent\" href=\"https:\/\/oilersnation.com\/news\/mailto:zach.laing@bettercollective.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">zach.laing@bettercollective.com<\/a>), titled \u201cLetters to the Editor.\u201d Please include a letter up to 200 words, including your name, and place of residence (city, town, province, or state). Your letters may be edited for length and\/or clarity. Letters must be submitted by 6 p.m. MT Saturday night to be considered for feature on Sunday mornings.<\/p>\n<p>Dellow, known in the Oilogosphere for his work as\u00a0MC79Hockey, spent two years working for the Oilers as a consultant between 2014 and 2016 before being let go. He returned to the NHL in 2019-20, spending five years working as the director of analytics for the New Jersey Devils, before being hired by the Carolina Hurricanes as an assistant general manager in 2024, holding the role for the last two years.<\/p>\n<p>Barnes, who wrote under the pseudonym\u00a0Vic Ferrari running the blog\u00a0Irreverent Oilers Fans, has been with the Washington Capitals for more than\u00a0 a decade. He was hired by the club in 2014 as an analyst, holding the role for three years, before being bumped up to director of analytics in 2017, running the department for eight years. Ahead of this season, Barnes was promoted to assistant general manager.<\/p>\n<p>Mehta, who also wrote at\u00a0Irreverent\u00a0Oiler\u00a0Fans, joined Dellow with the Devils as an analyst in 2014, spending four years there. He was hired by the Florida Panthers in 2021 as an analyst, spending two seasons in the role, before being promoted to assistant general manager and director of analytics in 2023 \u2014 a role he has held for each of the last three seasons.<\/p>\n<p>Marek listed two other names known from hockey blogging circles in Alexandra Mandrycky, who worked for public analytics site War-On-Ice, before being hired by the Minnesota Wild as an analyst. She has spent the last seven years in the Seattle Kraken organization, initially as a director of hockey administration, before being promoted to vice-president of hockey operations and assistant general manager in 2022, holding the role for each of the last four seasons.<\/p>\n<p>Darryl Metcalf, meanwhile, has been with the Maple Leafs since 2014, initially hired as an analyst, before being promoted to special assistant to the general manager in 2019, holding the role for three years. He has spent the last four seasons as their assistant general manager, and had founded ExtraSkater.com before breaking into the NHL.<\/p>\n<p>Zach Laing is Oilersnation\u2019s managing editor, and The Nation Network\u2019s news director. He also makes up one-half of the <a class=\"text-accent\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/@DFOFantasy\/streams\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">Daily Faceoff DFS Hockey Report<\/a>. He can be followed on X at <a class=\"text-accent\" href=\"http:\/\/www.x.com\/zjlaing\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">@zjlaing<\/a>, or reached by email at zach.laing@bettercollective.com.PRESENTED BY LeaseBusters<img alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"205\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\" style=\"color:transparent;max-width:100%;height:auto;object-fit:cover;object-position:top;background-size:cover;background-position:top;background-repeat:no-repeat;background-image:url(&quot;data:image\/svg+xml;charset=utf-8,%3Csvg xmlns='http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg' viewBox='0 0 1024 205'%3E%3Cfilter id='b' color-interpolation-filters='sRGB'%3E%3CfeGaussianBlur stdDeviation='20'\/%3E%3CfeColorMatrix values='1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 100 -1' result='s'\/%3E%3CfeFlood x='0' y='0' width='100%25' height='100%25'\/%3E%3CfeComposite operator='out' in='s'\/%3E%3CfeComposite in2='SourceGraphic'\/%3E%3CfeGaussianBlur stdDeviation='20'\/%3E%3C\/filter%3E%3Cimage width='100%25' height='100%25' x='0' y='0' preserveAspectRatio='none' style='filter: url(%23b);' href='data:image\/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAEAAAABCAYAAAAfFcSJAAAADUlEQVR42mPMyc35DwAE2AJG6zh9WgAAAABJRU5ErkJggg=='\/%3E%3C\/svg%3E&quot;)\"  src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1775089956_937_image.webp\"\/>LeaseBusters\u00a0is Canada\u2019s premier lease takeover marketplace, helping drivers get out of their current vehicle leases without costly penalties or negative equity. Instead of paying thousands to break a lease, sellers connect with qualified buyers ready to take it over\u2014saving money and avoiding financial stress. Buyers benefit from shorter-term commitments and often better monthly payments, while dealerships retain a replacement customer and leasing companies keep contracts active. It\u2019s a smarter, more efficient solution for everyone involved. Four parties, four wins\u2014only with LeaseBusters.\u00a0 For more information, check out\u00a0<a class=\"text-accent\" href=\"http:\/\/www.leasebusters.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">www.LeaseBusters.com.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The National Hockey League\u2019s latest vacancy for a general manager opened up Monday with the Toronto Maple Leafs\u2019&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":535679,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5106],"tags":[5,20,5172,4,66,31,5171],"class_list":{"0":"post-535678","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-toronto-maple-leafs","8":"tag-hockey","9":"tag-maple-leafs","10":"tag-mapleleafs","11":"tag-nhl","12":"tag-toronto","13":"tag-toronto-maple-leafs","14":"tag-torontomapleleafs"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/116332302166997611","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/535678","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=535678"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/535678\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/535679"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=535678"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=535678"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=535678"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}