The Maple Leafs made long-term commitments to Chris Tanev and Oliver Ekman-Larsson. Is it enough to remake the look and feel of Toronto's defense? Wes Clark is no longer running point on amateur scoring for the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Pittsburgh Penguins announced on Tuesday that they hired Clark to become their vice president of player personnel. Clark served as the Leafs' director of amateur scouting and had been responsible for picks at the NHL Draft for the last few years. He has been credited for some of his selections that may have been seen as a reach by some other draft prognosticators. The most recent example saw Clark select Easton Cowan with the 28th overall pick in the 2023 Draft, only to see the player excel the following year with a standout season with the London Knights. But Clark is following Dubas, who departed the Leafs organization last year to become the president and GM of the Penguins last summer. "Having worked with Wes for many years, I have a deep trust in his ability to identify talent, lead staffs, advance our scouting process and methods, learn from mistakes to improve processes and to challenge my own thinking and planning on a near daily basis," Dubas said in a statement about Clark's hiring. Both go way back to their time with the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds when Dubas served as GM of the OHL club and Clark was the director of player personnel. [embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9JD5R_Pn1Ko[/embed] When Dubas joined the Leafs organization as an assistant GM in 2014, Clark joined the Leafs later that year as an amateur scout. In 2016, Clark briefly departed the Leafs to join the Florida Panthers as a scout until Dubas was elevated to the Leafs GM position and hired Clark back as an assistant director of player personnel before being elevated to the director of scouting spot during the 2021-22 season. When Dubas departed the organization, it didn't take long before some other staff in Toronto followed suit. Jason Spezza wasted no time in tendering his resignation when the Leafs elected not to renew Dubas as GM and joined him in Pittsburgh as an assistant general manager. Jon Elkin, who had been the Leafs head goaltending evaluator, bolted for Pittsburgh in a similar role. During Dubas and Clark's time together, Clark had been seen by many as an unofficial right-hand man to the GM at the time, so it was inevitable that both were going to be working together; The Leafs hired Derek Clancey as an assistant GM of player personnel last summer and he'll likely take more of a hands-on approach in Clark's absence going forward. Image [https://thehockeynews.com/.image/c_fit,h_600,w_600/MjAwNTk1MTUxMDE2NDM2ODQ0/cf1808c0-6a82-4298-9049-3eb2eae105b0.jpg] Related Maple Leafs Used a 'Chase' Penalty Shot Format in Their Development Camp Scrimmage and I Want to See the Rule Change in Actual NHL Games [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/toronto-maple-leafs/latest-news/maple-leafs-used-a-chase-penalty-shot-format-in-their-development-camp-scrimmage-and-i-want-to-see-the-rule-change-in-actual-nhl-games] Maple Leafs Star William Nylander Shares Serene Offseason Snaps in Latest Instagram Post [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/toronto-maple-leafs/latest-news/maple-leafs-star-william-nylander-shares-serene-offseason-snaps-in-latest-instagram-post] ‘There’s A Good Chance They Cut Bait There As Well’: Could the Maple Leafs Trade David Kampf Amid a Lack of Forward Depth? [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/toronto-maple-leafs/latest-news/theres-a-good-chance-they-cut-bait-there-as-well-could-the-maple-leafs-trade-david-kampf-amid-a-lack-of-forward-depth] News from THN.com Blues Banking On Elite Prospect Base Elevating Them To New Heights In 2024-25 And Beyond [https://thehockeynews.com/news/blues-banking-on-elite-prospect-base-elevating-them-to-new-heights-in-2024-25-and-beyond] The Five Most Improved NHL Teams So Far in the 2024 Off-Season [https://thehockeynews.com/news/the-five-most-improved-nhl-teams-so-far-in-the-2024-off-season] Which Canadian NHL Teams Are Closest to Winning the Cup After the Start of Free Agency? [https://thehockeynews.com/news/which-canadian-nhl-teams-are-closest-to-winning-the-cup-after-the-start-of-free-agency]
