After already executing a general manager change and firing their head coach, the Maple Leafs aren’t done making significant staff changes this offseason. Assistant general managers Brandon Pridham and Derek Clancey will not retain their positions next season, the team announced. Pridham’s departure is a mutual agreement and was first reported Saturday by Steve Simmons of the Toronto Sun.
The moves are two weeks to the day after John Chayka was installed as Brad Treliving’s successor as general manager, with franchise legend Mats Sundin joining him as a senior executive advisor. During that time, they’ve faced questions about star center Auston Matthews‘ willingness to remain long-term, moved up four spots in the draft lottery to win this year’s first overall pick, and have embarked on the franchise’s second head coach search in the last three years. To say it’s been a busy few weeks for a Leafs squad in desperate need of an on-the-fly retool is an understatement, and they’ll now continue to navigate the process without one of the most well-regarded names in their organization over the past several years.
Pridham first joined the Leafs in 2014 as a special assistant to then-GM Dave Nonis. He’s since held pivotal roles in Lou Lamoriello’s, Kyle Dubas’ and Treliving’s tenures in Toronto’s front office as something of a salary cap specialist, helping the team navigate a boatload of big-money contracts doled out to Matthews, William Nylander and John Tavares, among others. He was promoted to a full-time assistant GM under Dubas in 2018 and served as co-interim GM with fellow AGM Ryan Hardy, who remains with the organization for now, after Treliving was fired with a couple of weeks left in the regular season.
“Brandon has played an integral role in the organization over the past 12 seasons,” Chayka said in a team-issued statement. “We are sincerely appreciative of Brandon’s professionalism, commitment and dedication to the Maple Leafs throughout his tenure.”
Clancey was a Treliving hire, spending the last three seasons as Treliving’s primary player personnel assistant after previously working under him in Calgary as a pro scout in 2021-22. A decorated minor-league coach before embarking on a lengthy and successful NHL scouting career, he was part of the Penguins’ Stanley Cup championships in 2009, 2016, and 2017 before departing the organization five years ago. Since then, he’s had the aforementioned brief stop in Calgary, plus one year as an AGM in Vancouver (2022-23), before he eventually joined the Leafs.
Even with the departures, Chayka and Sundin still have three AGMs to rely on in a pivotal offseason. Pridham and Clancey were the two highest-ranking ones, though, so it would be surprising not to see them make at least one corresponding hire. Hardy remains in his post as the Leafs’ minor-league operations leader, while Dr. Hayley Wickenheiser (player development) and Darryl Metcalf (hockey research and development) are still on staff as well.