Leafs replace Jason Spezza with another former NHL star

This just in from ESPN NHL insider Kevin Weekes, the Toronto Maple Leafs have hired former NHLer turned executive Shane Doan as the team's new assistant general manager.

Doan will answer to Leafs new GM Brad Treliving.

Check it out:

Doan has been an executive with the Arizona Coyotes and with Hockey Canada since his retirement from the NHL in 2017. He has a long-time relationship with Treliving, who was hired by the Coyotes as an assistant GM himself before moving on to become GM of the Calgary Flames in 2014. The pair are now reunited in The Capital of the Hockey Universe: Toronto.

Since joining the Coyotes' front office staff, Doan has worked mostly in player development. He was GM of Team Canada's Olympic roster for the 2022 Winter Games in Beijing, finishing in 5th place. 

Interestingly enough Doan also happens to be Auston Matthews' childhood idol. Call me a conspiracy theorist, but this could solely be a powerplay to convince Matthews to re-sign in Toronto rather than heading to his hometown Coyotes.