On Wednesday, a former Assistant General Manager of the Los Angeles Kings took the air to share that he had recently interviewed for the Toronto Maple Leafs vacant General Manager role.
On Wednesday, former Los Angeles Kings Assistant General Manager Mike Futa shared on Sportsnet's The Fan Hockey Show that he had previously interviewed with the Toronto Maple Leafs for the General Manager opening.
The Toronto GM opening might be the the most notable job opening in the entire National Hockey League at this point in time, and longtime Kings executive, Mike Futa talked about how it would be an honour to join the Maple Leafs front office.
Futa took part in several interviews and meetings on zoom and in person before later finding out whether or not he was suited for the polarizing role.
Futa, 58, was a member of the Kings organization for 13 seasons while working in multiple different positions. From 2007 to 2014 he served as the Kings Director of Amateur Scouting before being named VP of Hockey Operations and Director of Player Personnel.
He occupied those two positions from 2014 until 2017 when he was officially named as Los Angeles' Assistant General Manager. He served as Assistant until 2020 when it was known that he would be leaving the Kings organization as the club decided not to renew his expiring contract.
Despite the unfortunate end to his time in Los Angeles, Futa played a big role in putting together and developing the Kings Stanley Cup Champion rosters in 2012 and 2014.
It's no shock that the Maple Leafs reached out to Futa as the team has certainly done it due diligence as they begin their offseason in search of a new head of the snake. Futa has plenty of experience but has been out of the game for some time now, with his last job coming in 2021-22 when he served as Senior Consultant for the Carolina Hurricanes.
Although he went through several meetings the Toronto, Futa revealed that the organization respectfully shared with him that they have decided to go in another direction.
“I got a call … just saying that respectfully, great job, we’re going in another direction,” he said. “I wish them all the best. It was an incredible process.”
It appears that the former Kings executive will not be joining the Maple Leafs front office at this time.
For action-packed issues, access to the entire magazine archive and a free issue, subscribe to The Hockey News at THN.com/free. Get the latest news and trending stories by subscribing to our newsletter here. And share your thoughts by commenting below the article on THN.com or creating your own post in our community forum.