{"id":540735,"date":"2026-04-04T18:43:22","date_gmt":"2026-04-04T18:43:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/540735\/"},"modified":"2026-04-04T18:43:22","modified_gmt":"2026-04-04T18:43:22","slug":"hayley-wickenheiser-linked-to-maple-leafs-gm-job","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/540735\/","title":{"rendered":"Hayley Wickenheiser Linked to Maple Leafs GM Job"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Toronto Maple Leafs<\/a> continue their search for a new general manager following the firing of Brad Treliving, with both internal and external candidates in the conversation.<\/p>\n

The search will draw significant interest if only because of the Maple Leafs’ league-wide appeal and stature, and according to Elliotte Friedman, the candidate landscape is already shaping up.<\/p>\n

Friedman discussed a few potential names of interest during Friday’s episode of Sportsnet\u2019s \u201c32 Thoughts\u201d podcast<\/a>. The Sportsnet analyst made it clear that there is \u201ca ton of interest\u201d in the opening.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a report that they\u2019ve talked to John Chayka already,\u201d Friedman said. \u201cI\u2019ve heard rumors about\u2026 I\u2019ve heard Dean Lombardi\u2019s name, that he has interest in this. Another guy who was data-driven, that looks a lot better now, is Kevyn Adams.\u201d<\/p>\n

Between all those external names, however, Friedman also brought an intriguing internal option to the conversation.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve heard that (Keith) Pelley thinks very highly of Hayley Wickenheiser,\u201d Friedman said.<\/p>\n

Hayley Wickenheiser, a former Team Canada captain and Olympic gold medalist, has been an assistant general manager for the organization since 2022.<\/p>\n

Friedman expanded on that initial comment, noting that Wickenheiser has already been part of internal discussions during the early GM search process.<\/p>\n

\"Toronto<\/p>\n

Toronto Maple Leafs new general manager Brad Treliving reacts to a question during an introductory press conference at Scotiabank Arena.Dan Hamilton-USA TODAY Sports<\/p>\n

(Dan Hamilton-USA TODAY Sports)<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the people (Pelley) met with internally was Wickenheiser,\u201d Friedman said. \u201cI don\u2019t know that she is going to be the next person in charge, I honestly don\u2019t. But I won\u2019t be surprised if something there appeals to her and she has an elevated role.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Maple Leafs fired Treliving shortly after it was confirmed the franchise would miss the playoffs for the first time in a decade. Toronto confirmed its fate by losing to the San Jose Sharks<\/a> on Thursday, effectively missing out on making it to the postseason.<\/p>\n

Related: Oilers Coach Gives Update on Leon Draisaitl’s Return Timeline<\/a><\/p>\n

Related: Kris Knoblauch Shares Update on Oilers’ Playoff Goalie Situation<\/a><\/p>\n

This story was originally published by Athlon Sports<\/a> on Apr 4, 2026, where it first appeared in the NHL<\/a> section. Add Athlon Sports as a Preferred Source by clicking here.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Toronto Maple Leafs continue their search for a new general manager following the firing of Brad Treliving,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":540736,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5118],"tags":[4892,2300,61887,19804,5,161,38,5280,4,168,31,162],"class_list":{"0":"post-540735","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-minnesota-wild","8":"tag-brad-treliving","9":"tag-elliotte-friedman","10":"tag-external-candidates","11":"tag-hayley-wickenheiser","12":"tag-hockey","13":"tag-minnesota","14":"tag-minnesota-wild","15":"tag-minnesotawild","16":"tag-nhl","17":"tag-san-jose-sharks","18":"tag-toronto-maple-leafs","19":"tag-wild"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/116347916821220613","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/540735","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=540735"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/540735\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/540736"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=540735"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=540735"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=540735"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}