Toronto Maple Leafs assistant GM responsible for player development, Hayley Wickenheiser, discusses player development and how it differs from the past, what it's like to be in hockey's 'fishbowl' and the growth of Wickfest.
Hayley Wickenheiser has an incredible resume.
She's a Hockey Hall of Famer, an IIHF Hall of Famer, a four-time Olympic gold medallist, a seven-time women's World Championship gold medallist and a CWHL champion.
And now, she's balancing working in emergency medicine with being an assistant GM who's responsible for player development for the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Ryan Kennedy spoke with Wickenheiser for The Hockey News' Money & Power 2026 hockey business annual, released in early January.
THE HOCKEY NEWS: You are now in your eighth year with Toronto. What have you learned about player development during that time?
HAYLEY WICKENHEISER: It's a continual learning process. What I know to be true in player development is that consistent habits applied over time generally have good outcomes for players.
Everybody has a different path and style of connecting, so development is very personal for every player. It's less what you do and more how you communicate and the trust you build. It's that consistency over time with players that I find, for us, makes the biggest impact.
Over time, it's less dictating what players should do and more listening and asking questions about their game because that's how you get buy-in and have the greatest improvement.
THN: And what do you think the most important thing is for the players to learn about development? Because, obviously, they're excited to get to the NHL as soon as possible, and it's the hardest league to get into.
HW: The players who tend to have the most success are really great self-evaluators. It's the ability to honestly self-evaluate and reflect on their game and the role they're being asked to play, whether it's in junior, the AHL or the NHL.
When a player has a lot of resistance towards effectively evaluating their game or accepting a role or change, it makes the path that much harder. So the ability to self-evaluate is a very good quality.
A lot of players are much harder on themselves than anybody else could be, so sometimes it's about being your own best friend, and sometimes it's about pointing out areas for improvement. So it's finding that sweet spot where you're working on the things you do really well but also digging into the areas you need to improve on to make it to that next level or have more of an impact at the NHL level.
Everybody has a different path and style of connecting, so development is very personal for every player.
THN: A lot has been made about the younger generations and how to communicate with them. Are kids really different these days?
HW: I think so. When I came up, it was mostly through the boys and men's game and then my time on the women's national team.
First of all, there's a gender difference. Generally, boys are coached to be, "Tell me what to do and I'll do it," whereas on the women's side, it's more about the "why?" When I was playing, especially early on, there was more of the yell-and-scream, dictate, nobody-ask-questions, just-do-it coaching. And that style doesn't work anymore. Players want to collaborate. They want to feel like they've been heard.
Pro athletes are incredibly sensitive to begin with, so you have to be aware of those sensitivities as a coach. It takes a lot of time and energy, but I find players enjoy that and gravitate towards that.
It's also a different generation with social media and attention spans. The long video meetings are not as effective, and maybe they never were, but for sure not nowadays. It's about effectively getting your point across in the first few seconds.
THN: People talk about Toronto being a fishbowl. Do you feel that pressure? And do you enjoy that pressure?
HW: It's definitely a fishbowl, and I feel it because I lived it on the Olympics side of things. It can feel like you're preparing for an Olympics every day here in Toronto, with the scrutiny the players get. It's not for everyone. You need tools to manage the noise. But as a player, I can't think of a better place where everyone cares and watches what you do. It's awesome.
Wickenheiser, left, knows what it takes to be successful as a Hall of Famer and four-time Olympic gold medallist. (John David Mercer-Imagn Images)THN: When it comes to Wickfest, why was it important for you for it not to be just a hockey tournament but to have everything else off the ice that is involved?
HW: Kids can play a million tournaments. When I was creating this, coming out of the 2010 Olympics, it was, "How can I develop not only the hockey player but the athlete?"
So when a kid comes to the weekend, the Thursday through Sunday, they get a big party to start with, and they can sign up for off-ice sessions. We do everything from self-esteem to self-defense, nutrition, equipment and training. We've done Mimosas and Mammograms for moms. It's a big range.
When they leave, they've played four or five games, but they could also have eight to 10 hours of different types of instruction and learning. It makes it unique and sort of a festival.
We started in Burnaby. Now, we're in Surrey, Calgary, Milton, and our first year in Vegas is in February. This is our 16th year, and I've worked with 40,000 kids so far. Here in Toronto, MLSE stepped up to help with the Milton event, and that's a nice tie-in with what I do with the Leafs.
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