The Toronto Maple Leafs and assistant general manager Brandon Pridham have mutually agreed to part ways, the club announced Sunday. In the same announcement, the team also revealed that assistant general manager of player personnel Derek Clancey will not be returning to the organization.
Pridham, one of Toronto’s longest-serving and most respected executives, was hired away from the NHL’s Central Registry in August 2014 and became a trusted lieutenant to four Leafs general managers: Dave Nonis, Lou Lamoriello, Kyle Dubas and Brad Treliving.
Pridham expertly managed the team’s salary cap through the NHL’s flat-cap era, while also handling contract negotiations and overseeing CBA compliance. He served as co-interim GM along with Ryan Hardy following Treliving’s March 30 firing and had term remaining on his contract, but will instead exit as part of front-office restructuring under new GM John Chayka and senior executive adviser Mats Sundin.
“Brandon has played an integral role in the organization over the past 12 seasons,” Chayka said in a statement. “We are sincerely appreciative of Brandon’s professionalism, commitment and dedication to the Maple Leafs throughout his tenure. Derek also brought valuable experience and insight to our hockey operations department during his time with the club. We thank both Brandon and Derek for their contributions to the organization and wish them and their families all the very best moving forward.”
While Pridham operated away from the spotlight, his work was often lauded by those he worked for. The 15 years he spent with Central Registry gave him a leg up when navigating the intricacies of the CBA. Pridham played a big role in helping Toronto clear the books during the teardown that preceded the Auston Matthews/Mitch Marner/William Nylander era and then was an integral part of the nine straight playoff seasons that followed as the Leafs were consistently challenged to make roster improvements against the constraints of a slow-moving cap.
“It’s tough to really put into words what it’s like to work with Brandon,” Dubas told reporters at the 2021 trade deadline. “The ideas that he comes up with. Just the information he’s able to give me to make my job as easy as possible, and his ability to challenge me or tell me when he thinks we’re going down a path that might not be best and really optimize our roster, our cap space, all the different things that we’re doing — he works tirelessly at it. He’s an indispensable part of the group.
“Whatever awards there are for that position, I would certainly think he should win them.”
Hired by Treliving in 2023, Clancey was one of the former GM’s closest lieutenants with a role focused primarily on player personnel matters. Clancey previously worked as a scout for Treliving with the Calgary Flames and was a longtime scouting director with the Pittsburgh Penguins and assistant GM with the Vancouver Canucks for one season.
Pridham’s and Clancey’s departures follow the firing of coach Craig Berube on Wednesday and the decision earlier in the week not to retain Shane Doan, who is out as special assistant to the GM after three seasons.
“Shane Doan, we had a good discussion, he’s going to run out his contract (when it expires on June 30),” Chayka said.