The St. Louis Blues have been hearing a whole lot about the Toronto Maple Leafs. That has only grown louder on Monday, after the Leafs fired general manager Brad Treliving. Now, with this news, the noise surrounding Doug Armstrong potentially leaving for Toronto is getting louder, especially since he's ceding his general manager role to Alexander Steen after the season.
But there is one other prominent name from Blues history that is being linked to the Leafs.
During an appearance on Early Trading, TSN NHL insider Darren Dreger listed names to keep an eye on for front office roles for the Maple Leafs, including general manager. Dreger listed Pronger as one of the names to keep an eye on.
"And then the Chris Pronger speculation, maybe there's an office for him in the new rebuild of the Toronto Maple Leafs front office is possible as well," said Dreger.
Blues legend Chris Pronger gaining steam to land front office role
It would be interesting to see if the Leafs were to offer a position to Pronger, considering he doesn't have lengthy front office experience. Back in 2017, Pronger was a senior advisor of hockey operations with the Florida Panthers, a role he held until 2020. Prior to that, Pronger was hired by the NHL in 2014 to serve in the Department of Player Safety.
Pronger isn't solely linked to the Maple Leafs this offseason hiring cycle. Sportsnet's Nick Kypreos floated Pronger and former Anaheim Ducks star Ryan Getzlaf as potential front office candidates. Kypreos did rule out the Nashville Predators as a destination, as they are looking for a more experienced general manager to replace the retiring Barry Trotz.
"We also want to keep an eye on Chris Pronger and Ryan Getzlaf, two others being discussed for front-office jobs, who don’t have the same kind of executive experience," writes Kypreos. "It doesn’t appear Nashville is moving in that kind of direction, as they’ve made it known they want more NHL front office experience than what Getzlaf or Pronger can provide at this point."
Pronger had spent the bulk of his Hall of Fame playing career with the Blues after being acquired by the Hartford Whalers in 1995. In his nine years in St. Louis, Pronger made it to the All-Star Game four times and in the 1999-2000 season, won the Hart Trophy for league's most valuable player and the Norris Trophy for the league's best defenseman. Through 598 games, Pronger recorded 84 goals, and 272 assists.
It feels as though it's a matter of when, not if, Pronger ends up in a front office role. We'll see if that happens this offseason and if it will be with the Maple Leafs or another team.