Brandon Pridham, the former Toronto Maple Leafs assistant general manager, has joined the Pittsburgh Penguins as a hockey operations consultant.

According to a report from Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman on July 14, it reunites him with the Penguins' president of hockey operations and general manager, Kyle Dubas. 

"Former Toronto assistant GM Brandon Pridham is joining Pittsburgh as a Hockey Operations Consultant," the analyst reported. "He will handle the contract, cap management and planning responsibilities formerly held by Vukie Mpofu, who recently departed for Nashville. Pridham will also mentor junior members on the staff."

This happens months after Pridham's exit from Toronto in May amid the front-office rebuild under new Maple Leafs general manager John Chayka.

In Pittsburgh, Pridham will be taking over the duties that were previously handled by Vukie Mpofu. Mpofu left the Penguins on July 7 to become the assistant general manager of the Nashville Predators under new general manager Chris MacFarland.

Pridham is also expected to mentor the junior members of Pittsburgh's hockey operations staff. After all, he has the relevant experience, spending 12 years with the Maple Leafs, since 2014 as a special assistant to the general manager under Dave Nonis.

Then he was promoted to assistant general manager in 2018 when Dubas became Toronto's GM. Pridham remained in that role and even served as interim co-general manager. It was till about two months after Brad Treliving's firing in late March before Chayka was hired. 

During his time in Toronto, Pridham helped manage the salary-cap problems behind the extensions of Auston Matthews and William Nylander. He also managed the signing of John Tavares when he was involved in the front office's decision not to re-sign Mitch Marner. 

The hire reunites Pridham with Dubas for the first time since their years together in Toronto. This adds him to a group of former Maple Leafs staffers who have already joined Pittsburgh's front office. That included Jason Spezza and Wes Clark.

Dubas took over as Penguins general manager in 2023 after Pittsburgh missed the playoffs. It happened for the first time since 2006, and the team parted ways with then-general manager Ron Hextall. 

The Penguins returned to the postseason in 2025-26. Now, Pridham's cap expertise arrives as Pittsburgh navigates upcoming contract decisions involving Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and Erik Karlsson.

Toronto’s front office overhaul continues

Pridham's exit from the Maple Leafs was a sign of the turnover that has been going on since Toronto's front office fell under Chayka. 

After winning the draft lottery, Chayka fired head coach Craig Berube. This was in favour of Jim Hiller and moved on from assistants Derek Lalonde and Mike Van Ryn. 

He also brought in Daniel Alfredsson among the new hires. As reported by The Hockey News analyst David Alter, Chayka recently parted ways with 14 employees, all from the front office.

The move famously includes even the exit of the assistant general manager, Hayley Wickenheiser. Adding to that are assistant general manager Darryl Metcalf and director of amateur scouting Mark Leach. 

Wickenheiser has been a long-standing member of the organization for about eight seasons. She said that her departure was due to the difference in vision for her role in the future. She made it clear that it wasn't about any dispute over her performance. 

Together, all these exits mark one of the biggest front-office rebuilds in the team’s history.

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Written by

Aadhya Nalla

Edited by

Soheli Tarafdar