Forget about a quick, conventional solution to filling the holes in the Maple Leafs' hierarchy.

On May 7, the day Paul Maurice was fired as coach, his departure took a back seat to news the Leafs had requested permission from the Vancouver Canucks to talk with their fired general manager, Dave Nonis.

That rekindled talk that Nonis's former boss, Brian Burke, could be on his way to Toronto next summer to front a hockey office that Nonis would set up while Burke serves the final year of his contract as the general manager of the Anaheim Ducks.

Burke insists he knows nothing about such a plan, though the Leafs were pursuing him in the shadows up until last month, when the Ducks ownership demanded Burke finish his term. It's believed the Leafs are already being closely watched by the NHL for evidence of any tampering with Burke.

Officially, the two-man search committee of Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment Ltd., says it has not formally interviewed any candidates as of yet and the assumption is that they won't make a final decision until the end of the playoffs, when it's clear which executives will be staying with which teams.

Those who have openly campaigned for the job include former Dallas Stars' GM Doug Armstrong.

The timing of Maurice's firing raised eyebrows, coming a month after interim GM Cliff Fletcher said there was no rush to make such a move, given Maurice has a year remaining on his contract.

Maurice might have been a convenient man behind the bench in a coming season where the rebuilding Leafs aren't expected to contend. But Fletcher said it was obvious the new GM would be hiring his own coach and he was trying to "clear the decks" for the new man.

The Leafs are now without a full-time GM, a coach and on July 1 will be without a captain if center Mats Sundin doesn't re-sign.

SEASON HIGHLIGHT
In the stretch run, the Leafs twice won five of six games to revive their season and put themselves just four points out of a playoff spot on March 25. Overall, under interim general manager Cliff Fletcher, they were 17-13-3. Goalie Vesa Toskala made 30 consecutive starts from mid-January until the Leafs were elinminated.

TURNING POINT
On Dec. 18, leading the Carolina Hurricanes by a goal, left wing Alexei Ponikarovsky got too fancy attempting an empty net goal and the Leafs eventually lost in overtime. They would've been just four games under .500 with the win. That defeat started a death spiral that saw general manager John Ferguson fired a month later.

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