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The Maple Leafs are close to naming their next GM.

The Toronto Maple Leafs are down to their final four general manager candidates after embarking on a wide search for the team’s new GM.

The Maple Leafs fired former GM Brad Treliving in March after the team was tracking to miss the playoffs for the first time in a decade, which is ultimately what happened. The Maple Leafs finished with the fifth-worst record in the NHL, a shocking downfall after they nearly beat the Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers in the second round of last year’s playoffs. With the Maple Leafs missing the playoffs, MLSE president and CEO Keith Pelley decided to can Treliving, and he immediately went to work on finding the team’s next GM.

In recent weeks, we have heard several names that the Maple Leafs have interviewed during their long and wide-ranging search for the new GM, with 10 potential names on the GM candidate list. Now, it appears the team has whittled the list down to four names.

According to Sportsnet NHL insider Elliotte Friedman on the latest edition of the 32 Thoughts Podcast, the Maple Leafs are down to the following four names in their GM search:

• John Chayka, former Arizona Coyotes GM
• Evan Gold, Boston Bruins assistant GM
• Ryan Martin, New York Rangers assistant GM
• Scott White, Dallas Stars assistant GM

Final 4 GM Candidates All Have Their Own Strengths

The final four GM candidates for the Maple Leafs all have their own strengths, and the team is going to have a difficult decision when it comes to picking which one it wants to lead the team.

Chayka has the most experience of any of them, having formerly been the GM of the Arizona Coyotes from 2016 to 2020 before he resigned from his position. He has mostly kept a low-profile since then, but he has long been rumored to get another chance at a GM job in the league since he is only 36 years old.

As for Gold, Martin, and White, they are all longtime assistant GMs in the NHL, with Martin having previously won a Stanley Cup as a member of the Detroit Red Wings’ front office back in 2008. Gold and White are likely the stronger of the two candidates right now, however, as they are leading executives for the Bruins and Stars, respectively, each of who are among the strongest and smartest front offices in the entire NHL.

Mike Gillis Not Among Final 4 GM Candidates

One name that Friedman did not mention as one of the team’s final GM candidates was Mike Gillis, who has been heavily rumored to get the job. The former Vancouver Canucks GM has not worked in an NHL front office since 2014, but due to his experience and past achievements, he has been considered a leading candidate to land the Maple Leafs’ GM job. However, while it doesn’t appear that Gillis is in the running to become the team’s next GM, there is still a chance he could be hired as the team’s next president, with the new GM working underneath him.

There have also been rumors linking Maple Leafs legends Mats Sundin and Gary Roberts to a role in the front office, though they would likely be brought in as special advisors instead.