Maple Leafs Need to Avoid Hiring Peter Chiarelli at All Costs – The Hockey Writers –

The Toronto Maple Leafs are in the middle of searching for their next general manager after firing Brad Treliving, and after a disastrous 2025-26 campaign, they seem to be willing to make some serious changes to fight their way back into playoff contention as soon as next season.

One name that was loosely connected to the Maple Leafs was Sunny Mehta, who used to work with the Florida Panthers as their assistant general manager and director of analytics, but he was recently hired by the New Jersey Devils, taking him off the table as an option.

Another name that has surfaced as a potential candidate is Peter Chiarelli, who used to work with the St. Louis Blues, and is remembered by many for his time with the Edmonton Oilers, where their fans would prefer to forget his tenure with the team.

Based on his track record, combined with what the Maple Leafs need heading into next season, they need to avoid hiring Chiarelli at all costs.

Chiarelli’s Trade History Is Not Appealing

The main issue with Chiarelli as a general manager is his trade history, which isn’t appealing when looking at some of the moves he has made. During his time with the Oilers, he decided to trade Ryan Strome for Ryan Spooner, one-for-one, after trading Jordan Eberle for Strome, one-for-one.

Downgrading from someone like Eberle, who had been with the Oilers for his entire career up to that point, to Spooner made no sense. Spooner was still an effective player, but he didn’t quite bring what Eberle was able to bring on a nightly basis.

Perhaps the worst trade Chiarelli ever made was trading a first and second-round pick in the 2015 NHL Entry Draft for defender Griffin Reinhart. At the time, Reinhart was a promising player with some potential upside, but it didn’t make any sense then, and it didn’t work out at all. Reinhart only played 37 career games, where he had two points.

On top of all of this, Chiarelli chose to trade Taylor Hall to the New Jersey Devils in exchange for Adam Larsson, one-for-one.

Considering what the Maple Leafs need to do, which is make some trades to alter their roster, Chiarelli is not the person who should be trusted to make those moves.

Other Questionable Decisions

Chiarelli made some other questionable decisions, including signing Milan Lucic to a long-term contract. Lucic was a solid addition to the Oilers on paper and seemed to be a good fit for their team, but after one season, the deal proved not to be worth it, since he wasn’t able to adapt to a game that was becoming much quicker.

While it ended up being an overpay, it also forced the Oilers to move money out, meaning they couldn’t hang onto some players they didn’t want to move, because of how big Lucic’s cap hit was.

Arguably, the worst thing Chiarelli did during his time as a general manager was signing Mikko Koskinen to a three-year extension, just a day before he was removed from the organization. Koskinen was ridiculously inconsistent and was struggling in a big way, yet he decided to extend him with a $4.5 million cap hit.

All of these bad decisions just piled onto one another, and it seems like a common trend for Chiarelli to make bad decisions when put in a position with that much power.

Unless the Maple Leafs want to go through an even darker period with less success, they should hire anyone but Chiarelli.

As the 2025-26 season moves along, be sure to continue following The Hockey Writers as your source for news, updates, and more from around the NHL and the hockey world.