Second Hand News

I have received a couple of emails asking me for my opinion about the rumors concerning the possibility that Jim Rutherford might leave Carolina to be General Manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs. While the blog mentioned this a bit last week, I didn't really go into any detail. First of all let me just say that obviously I don't have any inside knowledge of what JR might do, one way or the other. But that's never stopped me from giving my opinion anyway! Seriously, I doubt anyone can say with any certainty what he might do. What we can do is look at some reasons why he might leave or might stay and analyze them a bit.

Some reasons why he might leave:

• Being a native of Ontario, Canada, he might want to return home to finish his career.


• He's already reached the pinnacle once here, what more is there for him to accomplish but to do it again?


• Being the General Manager of the most valuable franchise in the hockey universe would be a dream job for many GM's.


• If he could somehow help turn the Leafs into Stanley Cup winners, he would be a legend, almost a deity up in Toronto. Instead of thousands celebrating like here in Raleigh, there would be millions in Toronto celebrating.


• It might be a nice change being able to spend to the salary cap maximum every year instead of keeping to a more limited budget like he has to in Carolina.


• While I'm sure he makes a lot of money now, I'm also sure that the Leafs would pay even more. Perhaps considerably more.

Some reasons why he might stay:

• He and Peter Karmanos have been close friends for a very long time and are obviously extremely loyal to each other.


• If he does not have almost complete autonomy, (like he has here), the Leafs ownership group would be a nightmare to deal with.


• If he is not successful, the Toronto media would roast him alive. They might roast him alive anyway.


• While he gets to live a fairly "normal" life here, life would change as he knows it once in Toronto.


• He probably has this job with the Canes for as long as he wants it. That would not be true with the Leafs.


• The weather is nicer here!

Again, we can only guess what factors are most important to Jim Rutherford, but from everything that I have seen and heard in the media world, it seems that it would be a major shock if he decided to leave. One thing I feel pretty certain about, if he did leave it wouldn't be until the offseason. Thank you to David, Bill, and Christy for the emails!

Fleetwood Mac

Rumours CD

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Second Hand News
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