TORONTO — The pursuit stretched back for months. It was some time in early May when Brendan Shanahan sought permission from New Jersey to speak with Lou Lamoriello about a job opportunity.
Along the way the Maple Leafs president also interviewed George McPhee, among others, while seeking an experienced hand to guide a nascent front office.
It was more than enough time for Shanahan to share his vision and Lamoriello to contemplate his future. Those men came together again this week and hammered out a three-year contract for Lamoriello to become the organization’s 16th general manager.
How exactly this will work — the most pressing question in the wake of Thursday’s announcement — wasn’t entirely clear. Shanahan had been constructing a fashion-forward front office before electing to drop an esteemed member of the old school directly into the middle of it.
“I’ve always thought that there are certain advantages to hiring people on their way up that are looking to prove themselves and have that sort of hunger and energy to make a name for themselves,” Shanahan explained. “But I do think that we were lacking in some experience. So if I could map out or draw out a description of the kind of person that we wanted, it would be Lou.”
On one hand the 72-year-old Hockey Hall of Famer is expected to mentor assistant GM Kyle Dubas, director of player personnel Mark Hunter and even Shanahan, his boss, to some degree.
But Lamoriello also made it abundantly clear that he’s intent on taking the lead on roster decisions for the rebuilding organization. He is more than a senior advisor.
“I have a responsibility as far as general manager and I report to Brendan, and the other people report to me,” said Lamoriello. “That’s the way any type of an organization works. But everybody works together. They don’t work for each other.
“Everybody will be part of every process.”
For those on the outside, there is a danger in focusing too much on the process.
Lamoriello was known as someone who dipped his fingers into every aspect of the Devils organization, but he also inspired incredible loyalty from those who worked for him. It’s important to remember that he’s taking this job from Shanahan, a man he knows and trusts, at a point in his career where he never expected to get such an opportunity.
There’s nothing to suggest he’ll attempt to jump into the GM’s chair as a one-man band.
To hear the enthusiasm from Leafs head coach Mike Babcock about the hiring is to be reminded about how different the atmosphere is around the organization.
It’s also clear that the 28-year-old Dubas is being groomed to eventually become the Leafs GM.
“I think that he’s a young fellow who has tremendous abilities,” said Lamoriello. “I know of his background. If he doesn’t become general manager here, and I’m not going to be here for a lifetime, it’s going to be his fault.”
The most interesting part of this story is also the most easily overlooked: That Lamoriello would even contemplate moving on from the Devils after nearly three decades is tough to wrap your mind around (although he strongly hinted that ownership made it a less desirable place to work in recent years).
When the Devils hired Ray Shero in May it appeared that Lamoriello was heading off into the setting sun as a perfunctory president of the organization he built from the ground up. However, the one thing Shanahan continually told him afterwards was that it’s not his style to take things easy.
Eventually, through persistence, the message got through.
“If I want anybody recruited anywhere to go anywhere, I’m sending Brendan,” Lamoriello said with a chuckle.
That the recruitment process unfolded slowly over time should not be overlooked. Everyone knows what they’re getting in to here.
