The Leafs faced an off-season challenge to hire a general manager.
Brian Burke was a favourite for the position held by interim general manager
Cliff Fletcher, but Burke opted to stay with the
Anaheim Ducks. He was not given permission to talk to the Leafs about their vacancy by Ducks owner
Henry Samueli. Burke had one more year left on his contract as the general manager of the Ducks, and those close to him say he was interested in the Maple Leafs' job. On May 7, the Leafs fired head coach
Paul Maurice, along with two assistant coaches, after missing the playoffs in back-to-back seasons. On May 8, the Leafs asked the
Vancouver Canucks permission to speak to
Dave Nonis about hiring him for a position with the club. In mid-May, there were rumours that
Wayne Gretzky was in the running for a position with the Maple Leafs. Gretzky responded to the rumours linking him to the Toronto Maple Leafs by stating that his focus was on the
Phoenix Coyotes and developing their young talent. On June 10,
Ron Wilson was hired as the new head coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs. Wilson was fired in May by the
San Jose Sharks after the Sharks lost to the
Dallas Stars in the second round of the NHL playoffs. Wilson has also coached the Anaheim Ducks and the
Washington Capitals. The former U.S. college player spent parts of three NHL seasons with the Leafs in the 1970s. The Toronto Maple Leafs hired Al Coates as their player-personnel director on June 16. Coates comes to Toronto after spending the previous six seasons with Anaheim. Coates has spent more than 30 years in pro hockey and has been part of two Stanley Cup-winning teams (2007 with the Anaheim Ducks and 1989 with the
Calgary Flames). The move perpetuated speculation that Anaheim general manager Brian Burke would become the Maple Leafs' GM once his deal with the Ducks expired in 2009. The fact that new head coach Ron Wilson played hockey with Burke at the
Providence College sparked further rumors about Burke potentially joining the club. Former NHL star
Joe Nieuwendyk was named as general manager
Cliff Fletcher's special assistant on July 8. While playing for the
Florida Panthers, Nieuwendyk gained experience as a special consultant to GM
Jacques Martin. Throughout the off-season, the Maple Leafs have been involved in numerous transactions. On June 24, the Toronto Maple Leafs put goaltender
Andrew Raycroft and forward
Kyle Wellwood on waivers. Moreover, interim GM Cliff Fletcher informed
Darcy Tucker that he is to be bought out of his three-year contract; however, this decision was not made official until June 25. The Maple Leafs bought out goaltender Andrew Raycroft on June 28, making him eligible for free agency on July 1. When the free agent signing period began on July 1, Toronto signed defenceman
Jeff Finger, goaltender
Curtis Joseph and former Dallas Stars forward
Niklas Hagman. Another transaction was made on July 3 when Toronto traded for former
Montreal Canadiens forward
Mikhail Grabovski in exchange for the rights to
Greg Pateryn and a second-round draft pick in
2010. The Leafs also re-signed forwards
Dominic Moore,
John Mitchell and Greg Scott. On July 14, the Maple Leafs acquired forward
Ryan Hollweg in a trade with the
New York Rangers for a fifth-round draft pick in
2009. ==Regular season==