from Ed Willes of the Vancouver Province,

The Leafs, for example, have a six-person analytics department headed by Darryl Metcalf. They have seven people working in player development, including former figure skater Barb Underhill, the skating development consultant. They have a director of pro scouting, amateur scouting and European scouting while employing 17 amateur scouts.

Their pro scouts include Blair MacKasey, Mike Penny and Tom Watt, who’ve been in the game longer than the red line.

This, however, is my favourite. They employ three community representatives: Darryl Sittler, Wendel Clark and George Armstrong. For special occasions, Punch Imlach is available through a medium.

So there’s a reason the Leafs have to hold their organizational meetings in the lower bowl of Scotiabank Arena and, for all the resources they’ve poured into their hockey department, you wonder where they’d be today if they didn’t win the Auston Matthews lottery.

But this is also true: If the Leafs represent one approach to franchise building, the Vancouver Canucks occupy the other end of the spectrum. What that means is a matter of some debate, and there are some wildly successful teams run by a smaller staff.

But, in analyzing the league’s other 30 franchises, it’s clear the Canucks’ operation is among the NHL’s leanest. That appears to be the way the Aquilini ownership group and general manager Jim Benning want things. But when you’ve missed the playoffs four consecutive years, it also raises a number of pointed questions.

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