TORONTO - The wooing of Lou Lamoriello began as a concept and ended Thursday night in quiet celebration at a downtown Toronto restaurant.
The deal for the new general manager of the Maple Leafs is three years in length, more than $9 million in salary, and all it will cost the club to sign one of hockey’s iconic figures is a third-round draft pick down the road, the most compensation ever awarded for a 72-year-old hockey executive.
The chase began the way so many hockey negotiations begin, with Brendan Shanahan making a telephone call to Josh Harris, co-owner of the New Jersey Devils.