Bruins Stanley Cup Architect In Running For Maple Leafs Job?

Peter Chiarelli orchestrated a Bruins team that made life miserable for the Maple Leafs, including handing Toronto one of the most embarrassing losses in hockey history.

Now, could the Leafs be turning their hockey operations over to the former rival?

One of the major offseason storylines in the NHL is how the Leafs will go about replacing general manager Kyle Dubas after the club announced last week he wouldn’t be returning. Team president Brendan Shanahan is leading the search for Dubas’ replacement, and that list is expected to include the veteran executive Chiarelli.

“As the process to find next (Maple Leafs) GM gets moving, I’d expect Toronto to interview at a minimum Jason Botterill, Marc Bergevin, Brad Treivling and Peter Chiarelli — if they haven’t already,” Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli tweeted Friday afternoon.

Chiarelli’s inclusion obviously is noteworthy for Bruins fans following Toronto’s process. Chiarelli’s crowning achievement came in Boston, where he spent nine years as general manager. He is largely responsible for building the roster that won a Stanley Cup in 2011, Boston’s first championship in nearly 40 years.

The Bruins also returned to the Stanley Cup Final in 2013 before falling to the Chicago Blackhawks, but that Bruins team almost didn’t make it beyond the first round because of the Leafs. Toronto led Game 7 of their first-round series 4-1 before the Bruins stormed back in the third period to dramatically tie the game before winning in overtime.

The Bruins fired Chiarelli after the club missed the playoffs in 2015, and he quickly latched on with the Edmonton Oilers a little more than a week later when they hired him to be their president of hockey operations and general manager. Despite taking over a roster that already had Leon Draisaitl and would take Connor McDavid in the ensuing draft, the Oilers made the playoffs just once in the Chiarelli era. Edmonton fired him after the 2018-19 season when the team finished in seventh place in the division.