The Leafs and President Brendan Shanahan are paving their path with bold, surprising moves.

The Leafs have announced that Lou Lamoriello, general manager of the New Jersey devils for 27 seasons, has been named as the team's new general manager.

The three-time Stanley Cup champion has made it to the Stanley Cup Final a total of five times.

A shock to the hockey world, the announcement comes after no reports of any chatter between the two parties.

Lamoriello stepped down from his position with the Devils in May.

At times, he also served as the team's head coach.

The move appears to be one centred on bringing experience to a raw management group, led by newly minted NHL executives Brendan Shanahan, Kyle Dubas, and Mark Hunter.

Lamoriello has ties to the Leafs organization in several ways, from president Brendan Shanahan's time in New Jersey (he was the first player Lamoriello ever drafted) to his former hiring of now-Orlando Solar Bears president Jason Siegel as vice president of marketing for the Devils. The move would appear to help solidify ties between the Leafs organization and the Solar Bears.

Lamoriello turns 73 years old in October of this year. In 2009, he was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame.

According to Sportsnet's John Shannon, despite Lamoriello no longer serving as Devils GM, the Leafs will be forced to compensate New Jersey with a third round draft pick.

"He was so insightful and intelligent," Brent Sutter said on TSN Radio following the announcement. "The two years I was there he was outstanding."

Head coach Mike Babcock also chimed in on the hire.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-partner="tweetdeck"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Babcock on Lamoriello: &quot;A sr. mgmt guy joining our team, understanding what the vision and what the plan is, is a home run for all of us.&quot;</p>&mdash; Dan Rosen (@drosennhl) <a href="https://twitter.com/drosennhl/status/624243475752579072">July 23, 2015</a></blockquote>

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Lamoriello will be introduced in a press conference at 2 p.m. today (Thursday, July 23).