You know, guys fall off"?

Yeah.

I'd say, um, you know, thinking about the entire, uh, goaltending group, that's what gives us a lot of confidence in the bet.

Um, you know, we think that Anthony Stolarz, um, is still a top goalie in the league, um, and he's done that now for a few years.

But, uh, you know, availability and, and some injury, um, you know, call it unluckiness, I guess, um, has occurred.

So to have the tandem there, uh, we think is really powerful.

Um, and certainly Sergei leading that, uh, with his durability, his availability, the type of person he is, how he looks after his body, you know, that gave us a, a lot of comfort.

Do you see that coming more from the back end with, uh, Raddysh involved and Andre, or do you just, do you feel like this is a better group that way, or is that s- still something you wanna shore up?

Like, what, what does that mean for people listening that you're described as a data guy, analytics? Like, as far as your view on a hockey team and your association with this, uh, how does it all come together and how do you kind of view things?

Yeah.

I, I mean, my, my, my approach and my view is, as you guys know as well as I do or better, like, it's just really hard to win in the National Hockey League.

There's a ton of really smart people doing great work, uh, lots of experience.

They, they got a lot of knowledge.

And so you're always trying to find an edge, an advantage, something different.

You know, not trying to play the exact same game as everybody else and, and just hope the ping pong balls hit every year for you.

Can, can you shed any light on that? Not necessarily your full blueprint of the next three to five years for the Leafs, but what do you think you did in particular to tip the scales and have Keith Pelley, in the end, choose you as the GM?

Like, what, what does that mean for people listening, that you're described as a data guy, analytics? Like, as far as your view on a hockey team and your association with this, uh, how does it all come together, and how do you kind of view things?

Yeah, I, I mean, my, my, my approach and my view is, as you guys know as well as I do or better, like, it's just really hard to win in the National Hockey League.

There's a ton of really smart people doing great work, uh, lots of experience.

They, they got a lot of knowledge, and so you're always trying to find an edge, an advantage, something different, you know, not trying to play the exact same game as everybody else and, and just hope the ping pong balls hit every year for you.

Like, you know, what can you do that's different that kinda gives you a right to win? Um, and you know, look, with my background and some of the things I've, experiences I've had, you know, I feel like I've got a lot of experience in the data side.

Um, and you know, having said that, I think no matter what your background experience is- You have to be, you know, cognizant of not over-indexing to something or under-indexing in another way.

So, so for me, it's just, um, you know, I really believe in, you know, the power of the room, like I've said before.

Can, can you shed any light on that? Not necessarily your full blueprint of the next three to five years for the Leafs, but what do you think you did in particular to tip the scales and have Keith Pelley in the end choose you as the GM?

but like how quickly can the plan come into effect here? Are we talking about a team that they can look forward to challenging for a playoff spot as early as next season? Is there a thought that this could turn into maybe a, a two to four or three to five-year plan? Are you prepared for both?

Yeah.

To answer your first question about, you know, what we talked to Keith about, I think it's important, and then we talked to Edward about it.

Uh, you know, as I think about building out an organization, and again, I, I said this at the beginning, there's two tracks, right? Like there's the foundational pieces, amateur scouting, player development, player care, sports science, R&D, the list goes on.

These are things that, you know, hopefully will sustain the Toronto Maple Leafs for a very long time and, and honestly well beyond my years, hopefully.

That's, that's the goal.

And I think those things are, you know, daily things.

How big of a concern is it for Leaf fans that Auston is on the clock?

... about that.

Yeah.

I was lucky to, to be general manager when Auston was coming up, before his draft year even.

And, um, you know, just to see him in that community, uh, and see him engaging with people and ob- Uh, you know, the, the skill level is obvious at that age even.

Um, but the type of person he is, uh, really stood out and, you know, he was friends with a lot of our players, and he was always around.

And so, you know, just got to know him through that.

Um, I was also lucky to spend some time with his family.

... what does he have to say to you? How does that work?