The Washington Capitals could reportedly lose an integral part of their front office this summer.
According to Sportsnet’s Luke Fox, one of the candidates for the Toronto Maple Leafs’ open head of hockey operations job is current Capitals assistant general manager Ross Mahoney. Toronto’s search for its next leader at the top follows the club’s dismissal of general manager Brad Treliving at the end of March.
“Neither MLSE nor hired recruiter Neil Glasberg will confirm or deny, but one head of hockey operations candidate for the Maple Leafs (not named Mike Gillis or Sunny Mehta) is believed to be Ross Mahoney,” Fox writes. “He is believed to be open to a promotion elsewhere should the right opportunity arise. Circle him as a person of interest in the search.”
Mahoney will be heading into his 30th year as a member of the Capitals’ organization at the outset of next season, with the last 12 of those years coming as assistant GM to Brian MacLellan and now Chris Patrick. Before his promotion, Mahoney served as the Capitals’ director of amateur scouting for 16 seasons and still plays a major role in the decision-making process regarding who the Caps select in each year’s entry draft.
According to the Capitals’ staff directory, Mahoney’s duties include managing the draft, the club’s developmental programs, evaluating opposing teams’ prospects, and overseeing the organization’s amateur scouting staff. In Game 5 of the 2018 Stanley Cup Final, 12 players who were drafted during Mahoney’s tenure were in the lineup to help the Capitals win the franchise’s first championship.
Since Mahoney arrived in 2000, the Capitals have drafted many top contributors, including franchise legends like Alex Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom, John Carlson, Braden Holtby, and Tom Wilson, as well as current-day pieces like Martin Fehervary, Connor McMichael, Aliaksei Protas, Ryan Leonard, Cole Hutson, and Ilya Protas.
Mahoney and his staff have been able to amass that plethora of talent despite the Capitals being one of the top teams in the league for the better part of two decades, meaning their most valuable picks tended to be either traded away or made late in rounds. They have also done a great job identifying young talent in other organizations who could blossom with more opportunity, including Justin Sourdif and Rasmus Sandin on the Caps’ active roster.
According to The Athletic’s Chris Johnston, the Maple Leafs are looking to make a hire quickly, with a timeline as early as mid-May. Other candidates for the job reportedly include Florida Panthers assistant GM Sunny Mehta, former Vancouver Canucks GM Mike Gillis, current Maple Leafs assistant GM Brandon Pridham, and former Los Angeles Kings GM Dean Lombardi.
