TORONTO (CBC) - The Toronto Maple Leafs will meet with former Vancouver Canucks general manager Dave Nonis next week after their requests to speak to two other GMs were denied, a source confirmed to the Canadian Press.
Cliff Fletcher, who has been the Leafs' interim GM since John Ferguson Jr. was fired on Jan. 22, had no comment on any Nonis meeting when reached Friday.
Earlier this week, Toronto reportedly asked permissed to talk to Detroit Red Wings GM Ken Holland and assistant Jim Nill, along with San Jose Sharks GM Doug Wilson.
As for Nonis, it isn't clear whether the Maple Leafs would want him to serve as GM or in another front-office capacity.
The popular belief is that Nonis could replace Fletcher for next season.
A year from now, with current Ducks GM Brian Burke having fulfilled his contractual obligation in Anaheim, the thought is he would be hired by the Leafs as team president and be reunited with good friend Nonis.
Nonis was let go by the Canucks on April 14 following a late-season collapse that cost them a playoff spot.
Under his watch, Vancouver set a franchise record for points in a season (105) during the 2006-07 campaign when it won the Northwest Division title.
But the Canucks took a step backwards this season when they finished with a 39-33-10 record and three points out of the post-season.
Vancouver was in seventh place in the West in February, but Nonis couldn't pull off a significant deal at the trade deadline to bolster his team's struggling offence, and the club struggled for the remainder of the season.
Perhaps Nonis's best move in Vancouver was acquiring all-star goalie Roberto Luongo from Florida in a June 2006 trade that saw Todd Bertuzzi Bryan Allen and Alex Auld head to the Panthers for Lukas Krajicek and a 2006 sixth-round draft pick.
With files from the Canadian Press
Copyright © 2008 CBC