It was a busy day yesterday in the management ranks of the NHL with several teams making moves. Even the Maple Leafs got in on the action.

Maple Leafs flesh out the scouting ranks with three new hires - Katya
All the Leafs do these days is hire new people. It’s like the reverse of the 2015 purge, only in slow motion.

Islanders Name Toronto’s Piero Greco NHL Goalie Coach - Lighthouse Hockey
Brathwaite is out as the Isles add the former goalie coach of the Maple Leafs’ AHL affiliate.

By far the biggest change was the surprise departure of Trevor Linden from the Canucks. Jim Benning will stay as GM and also assume Linden’s role as the head of Hockey Operations. Both Linden and Francesco Aquilini (the owner) penned nice feel-good letters to the fans saying this was the best for everyone involved, but the whole thing smells of a tire fire which they don’t know how to put out.

Did Linden and ownership not see eye-to-eye? - Video - TSN
This video report goes into some of the behind the scenes drama, hinting that Linden quit because the owners wanted the team to go into a different direction he thought wouldn't work.

We continue our Top 25 series this morning with Katya examining the case for Ian Scott and Joseph Woll.

The Leafs two older goalie prospects who got one vote each.
Why might they be worthy of more consideration?

ICYMI

CWHL Draft 2018: Markham Thunder pre sign prospect Victoria Bach - nafio and Annie
The first GTA pre-signing is in and it’s a doozy.

Top 25 Toronto Maple Leafs under 25: The case for Dakota Joshua - elseldo
"Here I am writing in his favour once again."

Other News

Steve Yzerman and the versatility of contract clauses - Raw Charge
Yzerman uses modified contract clauses to negotiate deals that allow the Lightning to stay competitive in the salary cap era.

Jarome Iginla retires from professional hockey - Stanley Cup of Chowder
It’s all over.

The Long, Knotty, World-Spanning Story of String
“Everybody knows about fire and the wheel, but string is one of the most powerful tools and really the most overlooked,” says Saskia Wolsak, an ethnobotanist at the University of British Columbia who recently began a PhD on the cultural history of string. “It’s relatively invisible until you start looking for it. Then you see it everywhere.”

From The Branches