On Brandon Pridham, the Leafs, and the Pittsburgh Penguins... So just as Jonah reported - I've now had multiple confirmations, it's getting out there today - this happened. Brandon Pridham's new contract was distributed to every team in the league by the Penguins - accidentally, or accidentally on purpose? Unclear. Two prevalent schools of thought right now: 1. Standard procedure across the board, contract distribution was perhaps a clerical error, Toronto was privy to the entire scenario. Nothing to see here. 2. It's all by design. Pridham's downgrade to a consultant title is intentional, allowing him to effectively touch all of hockey operations and have an AGM impact, but is such that it requires the Leafs to top up his salary through the duration of his Toronto contract as a result of 'accepting a lower position' with another team. Toronto's left on the hook for ~50-80% of his annual salary while he works for the Penguins. And the boldest claim - the Penguins rubbed Toronto's nose in it by emailing his contract around the league. Jonah reports there are team officials who believe it's the latter. More than one. While the email is confirmed, I'm still trying to figure out what's what. It's tough to make it all make complete sense. If Toronto allowed Pridham to talk to Pittsburgh, and Pridham's garden leave salary is non-consequential (reduced from his regular salary), and the Leafs really don't care one way or the other, there's not much to all of this, really. If Pittsburgh was, in any way, petty - and if Toronto was, in any way, deceived - this story becomes far more interesting. I mean, if Pittsburgh's paying Pridham ~200k to effectively work as an AGM with a consultant title while Toronto pays Pridham ~800k to work for a competitor - ESPECIALLY if they didn't see this coming when they let him talk to the Penguins, that's a spicy meatball. On one hand, if the contract doesn't leak, we probably don't even explore the potential for malice here. On the other, a consultant title for Brandon Pridham - the tenured, reputable, proficient AGM who we all once thought would become Pittsburgh's next GM under Kyle Dubas - raises an eyebrow. I wish I had better knowledge of how the non-competes work and standard practice for garden leave in the NHL. If you're knowledgeable, I'd love to hear from you. Let's see if this goes anywhere.