Hayley Wickenheiser said during her conversations with new Toronto Maple Leafs GM John Chayka, she expected to continue to have a significant impact within the organization. Now, the assistant GM is no longer with the club.
Toronto Maple Leafs assistant GM Hayley Wickenheiser announced she's no longer part of the organization.
Wickenheiser, a longtime Canadian women's hockey Hall of Famer and an emergency medicine doctor, announced in an Instagram post that she was part of the dismissals new Leafs GM John Chayka made on Thursday.
"For the past eight seasons, it has been an incredible honor to work for the Toronto Maple Leafs," Wickenheiser wrote. "Over the last few days, John Chayka and I had several discussions about my role moving forward.
"During those conversations, my expectation was that I would be in a position to continue to have a significant impact within the organization. However, it became clear that his leadership group envisioned a different path."
Wickenheiser, 47, joined the Leafs organization in 2018-19 under then-GM Kyle Dubas as an assistant director of player development. After three years in that role, she became the senior director of player development in 2021-22, then an assistant GM responsible for player development from 2022-23 onward.
Wickenheiser most recently oversaw the Maple Leafs' development camp last week, which included the first overall pick in June's NHL draft, Gavin McKenna.
"Since joining the club in 2018, I have been immensely proud of the work our player development team has accomplished," Wickenheiser wrote. "I want to sincerely thank the incredibly talented individuals, coaches, management and players whom I have been fortunate enough to work alongside over the last eight years. I am deeply grateful for the opportunity, wish the team nothing but the best moving forward, and look forward to the next chapter."
According to the Fourth Period's David Pagnotta and Toronto Sun's Terry Koshan, assistant GM Darryl Metcalf, director of amateur scouting Mark Leach and senior advisor of player personnel Dave Morrison were also dismissed.
Metcalf, Leach and Wickenheiser no longer appear on the Maple Leafs' front office and hockey operations page.
"As part of our ongoing evaluation of the organization, we have made the difficult decision to part ways with some valued colleagues," Chayka said in a statement on Thursday. "These decisions were not easy and are not a reflection of the commitment of the impacted people. We are sincerely grateful for everything they have contributed to this organization and wish them nothing but the very best in the future."
As of the time of publishing, two assistant GMs still appear on the Maple Leafs website: Ryan Hardy, who's the GM of the AHL's Toronto Marlies, and Judd Brackett, the recently hired assistant GM of player evaluation.
Wickenheiser won four Olympic gold medals and seven World Championship golds as a center for Canada's national women's hockey team. She also earned one Olympic silver medal, six world silvers, a league championship with the now-defunct CWHL, a U Sports championship and two Olympic MVP honors. She's a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame and IIHF Hall of Fame.
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