The Toronto Maple Leafs announced the hiring of Ryan Hardy on Friday to serve as the team's senior director of minor league operations.

Hardy, 35, joins the Leafs from the United States Hockey League's Chicago Steel where he had been serving as the club's general manager since 2018.

A native of Madison, CT, Hardy will serve as general manager of both the American Hockey League's Toronto Marlies and the Newfoundland Growlers of the ECHL.

"Over the last several seasons, I have developed a strong relationship with Ryan as his Chicago Steel team had great success on the ice, as well as success in developing players and staff," Leafs GM Kyle Dubas said in a statement. "As we evaluate how best to maximize the potential of all our prospects, we felt that adding Ryan to our management team and tasking him with managing the Marlies and the hockey side of our relationship with the Newfoundland Growlers would be a great benefit to the organization."

As part of Hardy joining the team, Lawrence Gilman, who had been the Marlies GM since 2018, is elevated to senior vice president while maintaining his assistant GM role with the Leafs.

Twice the USHL's General Manager of the Year, Hardy joined the Steel from the Boston Bruins where he had been an amateur scout for two years. Prior to coming to the NHL, Hardy was part of the United States National Development Team setup, serving as director of player personnel.