Leafs hire Lindsay Hofford from London, Jim Paliafito from Saginaw

[CarltonTheBear]

The Leafs have hired London Knights director of scouting and longtime OHL executive and coach Lindsay Hofford in a front office role to scout the OHL.

Hofford, who has worked with Leafs executive Mark Hunter through the London Knights for a decade, signed his contract this morning after continued discussions with Hunter and Leafs brass since Hunter was hired in October.

Hofford will step away from his other commitments to join the Leafs amateur scouting department full-time.

"Working for Mark Hunter over parts of the last ten years obviously we have our relationship there and that was behind the whole thing," Lindsay said in a phone interview Tuesday evening, adding that he'd be primarily covering Ontario.

The Leafs weren't the only option for Hofford, but ultimately he settled on them because of the Hunter link.

"There were a couple other NHL teams and a real good job offer from another OHL team as the GM but the opportunity to continue to work with Mark (Hunter) and I know Kyle (Dubas) as well, they're some of the brightest guys in the game."

http://www.pensionplanpuppets.com/2015/5/19/8627299/exclusive-lindsay-hofford-joins-leafs-front-office-to-scout-ohl

The article goes on to note that there's a big Mitch Marner connection here, as Hofford coached him prior to Mitch joining the OHL and was likely a big reason Hunter drafted him with the Knights.

 

[bustaheims]

Things are definitely pointing towards the Leafs taking Marner.

 

[Highlander]

More good news and Marner seems to be a top talent, once we trade out some of the other dead weight we may just glean another 1st rounder or two, wouldnt that be nice?

 

[Fanatic]

One thing is clear, and that is that the current power structure of Shanahan with Hunter & Dubas have weighed and judged the organization and found it to be lacking in almost every way and are now seeing to the rebuilding from the ground up.

For that I am thankful.

 

[Zee]

One thing is clear, and that is that the current power structure of Shanahan with Hunter & Dubas have weighed and judged the organization and found it to be lacking in almost every way and are now seeing to the rebuilding from the ground up.

For that I am thankful.

I hope they know what they're doing. I'm tired of not really caring about Leafs hockey because of how bad the team has been. Give me something to support.

 

[ZBBM]

Things are definitely pointing towards the Leafs taking Marner.

Bletch.

 

[Kin]

I could be wrong about this but if that's true I can't help but think that it's Strome who's falling a little. I've always sort of gotten the sense that a lot of the hype around him has been "Sure he's on the second tier but compared to McDavid and Eichel, the second tier is still awesome!" and now, maybe, teams are realizing that he's legitimately a second tier prospect and maybe would be in any year.

 

[CarltonTheBear]

I could be wrong about this but if that's true I can't help but think that it's Strome who's falling a little. I've always sort of gotten the sense that a lot of the hype around him has been "Sure he's on the second tier but compared to McDavid and Eichel, the second tier is still awesome!" and now, maybe, teams are realizing that he's legitimately a second tier prospect and maybe would be in any year.

I don't know about falling really, as I still don't see him dropping out of the top-5, but yeah I do think that Hanifin and Marner will go ahead of him.

 

[Kin]

I don't know about falling really, as I still don't see him dropping out of the top-5, but yeah I do think that Hanifin and Marner will go ahead of him.

Yeah, falling might have been the wrong word. I just meant in relation to all of the hand wringing about the Leafs not passing Carolina so "we could get Strome" and there sort of being a "Well, there goes Strome" vibe once we learned Edmonton won the lottery.

I've said before that I think Carolina's needs are so clearly on D that it really wouldn't stun me for one of Marner or Strome to fall out if Hanifin goes #3 or #4 but I may be wrong.

 

[L K]

This was a really nice pickup for the scouting department. 

 

[CarltonTheBear]

According to Nick Kypreos the Leafs have also hired Saginaw Spirit GM Jim Paliafito. A quick google search found this article about him from a few years ago: https://ca.sports.yahoo.com/news/the-most-interesting-man-in-junior-hockey.html

A bit of a bio: He played hockey growing up. Spent 20 years as an agent in the NFL. In 2003 he left that profession and joined the USHL?s Indiana Ice in their player personnel department. After winning a championship there in 2009 he joined the OHL's Saginaw Spirit as their head scout. He became their assistant GM a year after that and their GM another year later. Definitely an interesting background.

I'd imagine he'll be a scout like Hofford, maybe in the OHL or the USHL.

 

[Can8899]

Things are definitely pointing towards the Leafs taking Marner.

Sure looks that way.  My view is if both players (Marner and Strome) are similar, it would be "best" to take the one with NHL size. 

Are Marner and Strome at a similar level?  I have not seen Marner play and what I have seen of Strome I have not been too impressed (Just a few Playoff games this season).  I've hoped that the Leafs would take Strome based solely on a similar stat line and his size vs. that of Marner.

On another note, I'm loving all the OHL managerial/scouting talent that we are bringing in.

 

[CarltonTheBear]

Are Marner and Strome at a similar level?  I have not seen Marner play and what I have seen of Strome I have not been too impressed (Just a few Playoff games this season).  I've hoped that the Leafs would take Strome based solely on a similar stat line and his size vs. that of Marner.

Similar stat lines, although Marner has the edge in defensive play and a huge edge in speed. Does that make up for Strome's size? Beats me. If the Leafs have to choose between these two I think the decision will come down to skating. It's arguably Strome's biggest weakness while it might be Marner's biggest strength. If the Leafs don't think that Strome can improve in that area very much going forward then I think they lean toward Marner.

 

[GhostofPotvin29]

According to Nick Kypreos the Leafs have also hired Saginaw Spirit GM Jim Paliafito. A quick google search found this article about him from a few years ago: https://ca.sports.yahoo.com/news/the-most-interesting-man-in-junior-hockey.html

A bit of a bio: He played hockey growing up. Spent 20 years as an agent in the NFL. In 2003 he left that profession and joined the USHL?s Indiana Ice in their player personnel department. After winning a championship there in 2009 he joined the OHL's Saginaw Spirit as their head scout. He became their assistant GM a year after that and their GM another year later. Definitely an interesting background.

I'd imagine he'll be a scout like Hofford, maybe in the OHL or the USHL.

Director of Player Evaluation is apparently the title.

 

[Can8899]

Are Marner and Strome at a similar level?  I have not seen Marner play and what I have seen of Strome I have not been too impressed (Just a few Playoff games this season).  I've hoped that the Leafs would take Strome based solely on a similar stat line and his size vs. that of Marner.

Similar stat lines, although Marner has the edge in defensive play and a huge edge in speed. Does that make up for Strome's size? Beats me. If the Leafs have to choose between these two I think the decision will come down to skating. It's arguably Strome's biggest weakness while it might be Marner's biggest strength. If the Leafs don't think that Strome can improve in that area very much going forward then I think they lean toward Marner.

You can teach skating, you can't teach size. 

At this point in the rebuild either one will fit what the Leafs need so it's a win/win situation as far as I'm concerned. 

 

[Kin]

You can teach skating, you can't teach size.

I don't think that's really true. That vast, vast majority of players who come into the league not being great skaters never become them.

 

[CarltonTheBear]

You can teach skating, you can't teach size. 

You hear stuff like this quite a bit but I mean there's obviously a lot of good hockey players out there who can't skate that fast. I don't think it's just because they aren't trying enough. Some people can practice skating all they want but they'll never be able to move how Kessel does.

I do think that it part of the allure with Strome though. You see this guy and all the things that he can do and think "imagine if he just improved his skating". But you also have to be prepared for the risk that he doesn't.

 

[herman]

Are Marner and Strome at a similar level?  I have not seen Marner play and what I have seen of Strome I have not been too impressed (Just a few Playoff games this season).  I've hoped that the Leafs would take Strome based solely on a similar stat line and his size vs. that of Marner.

Similar stat lines, although Marner has the edge in defensive play and a huge edge in speed. Does that make up for Strome's size? Beats me. If the Leafs have to choose between these two I think the decision will come down to skating. It's arguably Strome's biggest weakness while it might be Marner's biggest strength. If the Leafs don't think that Strome can improve in that area very much going forward then I think they lean toward Marner.

You can teach skating, you can't teach size. 

I'd value skating over size these days in the NHL game, especially with the way Babcock likes to deploy his players. You can't exert your size advantage if you're not involved in the play.

 

[bustaheims]

I don't think that's really true. That vast, vast majority of players who come into the league not being great skaters never become them.

Yeah. You can improve skating, but you can't turn a slow skater into a speedster. It's possible Strome is in a similar position to where Tavares was, in that the issues with his skating are more about technique than physical ability, but Tavares is an exception, not the rule.

 

[GhostofPotvin29]

I don't think that's really true. That vast, vast majority of players who come into the league not being great skaters never become them.

Yeah. You can improve skating, but you can't turn a slow skater into a speedster. It's possible Strome is in a similar position to where Tavares was, in that the issues with his skating are more about technique than physical ability, but Tavares is an exception, not the rule.

A guy like Getzlaf might even be a more apt comparison - a C with size who had skating question marks.