Maple Leafs Make Several Front Office Changes

The Toronto Maple Leafs have made some changes to the structure of their front office and coaching staff. The team has announced Dr. Hayley Wickenheiser, Ryan Hardy and Darryl Metcalf have all been promoted to assistant general managers, meanwhile the team also signed Curtis Sanford as their new goaltending coach.

A historic day for Wickenheiser as she continues to work her way up the ranks with the team. She originally joined the club in August of 2018 as an Assistant Director of Player Development. The team released the following statement on the new structure and had this to say:

Wickenheiser will serve as Assistant General Manager, Player Development. Wickenheiser originally joined the club as Assistant Director of Player Development in August 2018 before she was promoted to Senior Director of Player Development in May 2021. As a player, Wickenheiser was inducted into both the Hockey Hall of Fame and the IIHF Hall of Fame after capturing seven World Championships and five Olympic medals. Hardy will serve as Assistant General Manager, Minor League Operations. He was originally hired as Senior Director of Minor League Operations last June following three years as General Manager of the USHL's Chicago Steel. He was voted by his peers as the USHL's General Manager of the Year in two of his three seasons in Chicago.

Metcalf will serve as Assistant General Manager, Hockey Research and Development. He enters his ninth season with the Maple Leafs in 2022-23 after beginning his tenure as an Analyst with the Hockey Research and Development department in 2014. He was elevated to Director of Hockey Research and Development in 2016 before he was named Special Assistant to the General Manager in 2018. Sanford joins the Maple Leafs following five seasons as Goaltending Coach with the AHL affiliates of the Vancouver Canucks, the Abbotsford Canucks (2021-22) and Utica Comets (2017-2021). Over the course of his professional playing career, Sanford spent time in the KHL, AHL and NHL, where he played 144 regular season games with St. Louis, Vancouver and Columbus.

In the time I've tweeted this, another woman has been promoted to Assistant GM of an NHL team: Hayley Wickenheiser (Toronto).

She joins Meghan Hunter (Chicago) and Cammi Granato & Emilie Castonguay (Vancouver).

And there could be even more announcements to come this week 👀 https://t.co/JGB50Q08Mk
— Emily Kaplan (@emilymkaplan) July 5, 2022