NHL Rumors: Maple Leafs Hire Firm, Panthers Offseason Moves, Oilers Signing

In today’s NHL rumors rundown, the Toronto Maple Leafs have hired a search firm to assist in hiring a GM or President of Hockey Ops, but there is already controversy over the choice. Meanwhile, Bill Zito of the Florida Panthers hints at off-season moves, and the Edmonton Oilers are set to sign a Russian prospect.

Did the Maple Leafs already make a mistake with their first big hiring decision? There’s a lot of chatter about why the firm they’ve chosen is polarizing.

Maple Leafs Taking Flak Over Hiring of Search Firm

The Toronto Maple Leafs have chosen a firm to aid in the hiring of their next GM or President of Hockey Operations. They’ve selected Neil Glasberg and PBI Sports (Glasberg’s The Coaches Agency).

The reason the decision is already drawing negative attention is that Glasberg arguably has a vested interest in who gets hired. He represents, as an agent, some of the candidates who could be in line for the job. Frank Seravalli posted, “Further to last tweet about conflict of interest, this is the LLC shell game Glasberg plays to make everything appear above board. Reminder: We’ve already had one team terminate a search firm this spring for a conflict of interest.”

He later adds that he received a text message from another NHL executive who agreed that this doesn’t look good.

Seravalli wrote, “Text message from a current #NHL executive re: #LeafsForever hiring Neil Glasberg to conduct search: “1. Get paid to run search. 2. Search hires your client as GM (get paid again) 3. Client hires another client as HC (get paid again) The only question is if Neil can hit a superfecta: search, client as president, client as GM, and client as head coach.”

Interestingly, Florida Panthers assistant GM Sunny Mehta is among Neil Glasberg’s clients. Mehta has been named as a frontrunner in the search.

Panthers to Look for Offseason Opportunities

In an interview with Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic, Florida Panthers general manager Bill Zito suggested he’ll be active in seeking offseason opportunities. Just days after being officially ruled out of playoff contention, the Panthers’ GM has no desire to use injuries as an excuse.

As for how active he’ll be, LeBrun cites Zito:

“It’s too early to tell. But it’s also about availability, right? You can say, ‘I need three Maseratis,’ but there are none out there, there’s none for sale, there’s no one that will trade you theirs, so you’d better have a Plan B… I think we’re not alone. But I do think it’s an interesting dynamic now — a few years on this job — where you break down your roster, and you say, ‘We need this. We need that.’ Yeah, OK, where are you going to get it? So it’s a never-ending puzzle. We’ll just continue to grind and try to make good decisions.’’

source – ‘How do the Panthers move on after a lost season? Catching up with Bill Zito’ – Pierre LeBrun – The Athletic – 04/07/2026

Oilers Signing Maxim Berezkin?

It appears the Edmonton Oilers will add another Russian player next season, signing 24-year-old forward Maxim Berezkin to a one-year entry-level contract. As R.org reports, “Berezkin is an Oilers prospect who was selected by Edmonton in the fifth round of the 2020 NHL Draft, No. 138 overall. He has spent his entire professional career in the Lokomotiv Yaroslavl system.”

A versatile, physical power forward with strong vision, he stayed an extra year in the KHL to gain experience. Despite a slower 2025-26 season, Berezkin is set to join Edmonton, joining fellow Russian Vasily Podkolzin to ease his transition to the NHL.