Evening Notes: Doan, Pascall, Kostin

Last week, reports emerged that the Toronto Maple Leafs had granted permission to the Vancouver Canucks to interview Shane Doan for an unknown role. However, even if a deal between Doan and the Canucks doesn’t come to fruition, he may leave Toronto anyway.

John Chayka, the former General Manager of the Arizona Coyotes, is widely considered to be one of the finalists for the Maple Leafs’ GM vacancy. On yesterday’s edition of DFO Rundown, David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period shared that if Toronto hires Chayka as the organization’s next General Manager, Doan has little interest in staying around.

Much of the turmoil between the two likely stems from Doan’s exit from the Coyotes after the 2016-17 season. It was Chayka’s first as Arizona’s General Manager, and the team abruptly decided to let him leave via free agency, although Doan would ultimately retire. Though there were certainly arguments from an on-ice perspective that the Coyotes had little use for a soon-to-be 41-year-old forward who was struggling to produce, it was the cause of consternation for many fans who felt the franchise’s greatest player had been given the cold shoulder to end his professional career.

Additional evening notes:

• While the Maple Leafs may be nearing the conclusion of their GM search, the Canucks are not. Still in the interview process with several candidates, another has joined the fray today, as TSN’s Pierre LeBrun reports that Vancouver has interviewed Brad Pascall, the Assistant General Manager of the Calgary Flames. If the Canucks were to offer him the position, it would be a major milestone in Pascall’s career, since he’s been the Flames’ Assistant General Manager since the 2014-15 season and has never worked for another NHL organization.
• A former up-and-coming prospect with the St. Louis Blues is staying in the KHL for a few more seasons. According to William Espy of The Hockey News, forward Klim Kostin has signed a three-year extension with the KHL’s CSKA Moskva. It’s somewhat surprising, given Kostin’s return performance in the KHL this season, scoring two goals and five points in 31 games between CSKA and Avangard Omsk.