Thursday brought some shocking news to the hockey world when Lou Lamoriello, who has been a centerpiece of the New Jersey Devils front office for the last 28 years, changed clubs. And to say it happened quickly would be a massive understatement.
A little after 10 a.m. (EST), the Devils announced that Lamoriello would be stepping down as the team’s President of Hockey Operations.
https://twitter.com/NHLDevils/status/624220155036483584
Then, just two minutes later, the Toronto Maple Leafs announced that Lamoriello would become their new General Manager and Alternate Governor.
The #Leafs have named Lou Lamoriello the 16th General Manager in Club history #TMLtalk
READ → http://t.co/gabNyzLRwI pic.twitter.com/huVOhgEYJl
— Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) July 23, 2015
Lamoriello first joined the Devils’ front office as President and General Manager in 1987, titles he held until this summer. Lamoriello handed General Manager duties over to Ray Shero back in May. And it’s not too often you get to see one man hire a GM for one team, then become a GM of another in a matter of months.
The 72-year-old Lamoriello has been known to operate stealthily and under-the-radar, but this might just be his sneakiest maneuver yet. Almost nobody saw it coming, but Lou will be joining the Leafs under team President Brendan Shanahan, the first player he ever drafted to the Devils at No. 2 overall back in 1987.
