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A source said the Toronto Maple Leafs have offered the job of president to Scotty Bowman but Bowman said he has not received any offers from the team.
The source said Bowman was offered the job by the board of Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment late last week. However, Bowman said the only time he was in Toronto recently was to attend a conference on the rules last Thursday at the invitation of National Hockey League vice-presidents Colin Campbell and Mike Murphy.
"I have not received any offers from the Toronto Maple Leafs for any position," Bowman said on Sunday. "I can't make it any clearer than that."
Another source told The Globe and Mail that Detroit Red Wings general manager Ken Holland asked Bowman a few days ago if anything was happening with the Leafs after hearing that talks had restarted. Bowman told Holland there was nothing going on, according to the source. The former Red Wings coach and general manager is still a consultant with the NHL team.
Legendary coach Scotty Bowman is on the verge of accepting a job as president of the Toronto Maple Leafs. Bowman is the NHL's winningest coach and won a record nine Stanley Cups. (Gary Hershorn/Reuters)
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Neither MLSE president Richard Peddie nor Maple Leafs GM John Ferguson, whose tenure with the team could end with Bowman's arrival, could be reached for comment.
However, the signs around MLSE point to a change in the senior management ranks of the Maple Leafs, who haven't made the National Hockey League playoffs since 2004.
Peddie and MLSE chairman Larry Tanenbaum have been searching for a senior advisor for months. At the same time, Ferguson has still not been offered a contract extension, even though one was promised by the end of June, according to the GM and others connected to MLSE.
Bowman rejected at least two overtures from the Leafs in June. After Bowman turned them down the first time, the Leafs offered more money but he rejected them again.
Another indication change is on the way is the outcome of the John Muckler interview. Muckler, who was fired as the Ottawa Senators GM in June, was interviewed last month by MLSE for the position of senior advisor.
One of the first things Muckler told the board, according to a source, was that Ferguson should get a contract extension. The source said Muckler told him he has not heard from MLSE since then.
If Bowman or anyone else eventually becomes president, it will be seen as a defeat for Peddie and a victory for MLSE chairman Larry Tanenbaum and his ally on the board, Dale Lastman. Peddie championed Ferguson, then a 36-year-old rookie GM, when he was hired in August, 2003. Since then, with the Leafs finishing out of the playoffs for the last two seasons, Ferguson has been fending off many critics.
Talk around MLSE is that Peddie resisted hiring someone to oversee the hockey operations but reached a compromise with Tanenbaum by agreeing to hire a mentor for Ferguson.
With a report from Allan Maki.
