John Ferguson Jr.'s Tenure As GM Over

[nki]

John Ferguson Jr.'s tenure as general manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs looks as though it is coming to an end.

Sources tell TSN the Maple Leafs board of directors met on Monday and decided to make a change. A formal announcement is expected today.

http://tsn.ca/nhl/news_story/?ID=227906&hubname=nhl

[Birdman]

Worst kept secret in sports.

[TONGA]

It's been over for months, they just forgot to actually do it.

[KFC]

I always find it ironic that the iconic hockey club in Canada is probably one of the franchises most guilty with caring more about making money than providing a good hockey team.

[gescom]

Originally Posted by TONGA

It's been over for months, they just forgot to actually do it.

So we just went ahead and fixed the glitch.

[arizonabay]

Originally Posted by gescom

So we just went ahead and fixed the glitch.

So is JFJ going to set ACC on fire?

[DiehardKingsFan]

Who didn't see this coming

[Hockey53]

I guess they will be introducing Fletcher as the new GM soon. It took them long enough to get rid of John Ferguson Jr.

[OvertimeHero]

Originally Posted by gescom

So we just went ahead and fixed the glitch.

We always like to avoid confrontation, whenever possible. Problem is solved from your end.

[Brodeur]

I find it amusing that rebuilding the Leafs will now be in the hands of a guy who once said "Draft Schmaft." But looking back at his first tenure, Fletcher did start off and made a couple of good trades.....but you can only sustain success so far without developing your own talent. You can't expect to make a home run trade every year.

2/92 - Acquires Doug Gilmour in a heavily lopsided 10 player deal with Calgary. Gilmour becomes an icon with the Leafs. The primary guy going back was Gary Leeman, who scored 50 goals the previous year but never came close again. Would be something like trading Brian Gionta for Olli Jokinen.

2/93 - Acquires Dave Andreychuk, Darren Puppa, and a first round pick (Kenny Jonsson) for Grant Fuhr. Andreychuk found instant chemistry with Gilmour which lasted for a few seasons. Leafs go to the Conference Finals in back to back years.

6/94 - Acquires a young Mats Sundin for a package centered around Wendel Clark. Clark's style of play causes him to slow down while Toronto gets Sundin in his prime.

3/96 - The Leafs are battling to make the playoffs and make what would become a terribly short sighted trade. Essentially Kenny Jonsson and a 1997 first round pick for Wendel Clark and Mathieu Schneider. By 1997, the Leafs' core (Gilmour/Clark/Andreychuk) were in their decilne as the Leafs plummeted as they didn't really have any home grown talent to infuse. That first round pick would end up being some guy named Roberto Luongo--although knowing the Leafs, they would have picked Daniel Tkaczuk.

3/97 - Fletcher gives Toronto a nice going away present as he deals Gilmour and Dave Ellett to New Jersey for Steve Sullivan, Alyn McCauley, and Jason Smith. Naturally all three are traded by Toronto before they realized their talent.

Meanwhile, "Draft Schmaft" produces nothing in ways of first round draft picks during his tenure. In 1995, his European scout Anders Hedberg pleaded with him to draft Petr Sykora. But assistant GM Bill Watters vetoed that selection and they took a local kid named Jeff Ware whose father happened to be friends with Watters. Hooray nepotism!

Anyways, should be interesting to see how Fletcher can deal with the salary cap since the trade environment is different than it was in his hey day.

[Birdman]

Fletcher had a good run the first time around with the Leafs, but this time its going to be short lived, and he'll get thrown up into the front office.

The question is, how far is he going to tear it down before handing it to someone else?

[roenick]

I hate the Leafs (and myopic leaf fan) but they way they handled this firing was horrible. The 'board' should be ashamed of themselves.