The Hockey News’ Money and Power 2025 hockey business annual is available at THN.com/free, featuring the annual 100 people of power and influence list.
W. Graeme Roustan, owner and publisher of The Hockey News, sat down with special guests for peer-to-peer conversations also featured in the issue, including the Washington Capitals’ president of hockey operations, Brian MacLellan.
Here’s their full conversation in The Graeme Roustan Show:
Read along with an excerpt from their discussion:
W. GRAEME ROUSTAN: When you were growing up, what was it that motivated you to make it to the NHL?
BRIAN MACLELLAN: I grew up like most Canadian kids. I was a Montreal Canadiens fan growing up because my father was. On Saturday nights, we’d watch games. You fall in love with the game because you did something as a family and talked about it a lot. You grow up wanting to play. Every chance we had as kids, we’d go outside and play road hockey. We’d go down to the rink and play. You’re constantly talking and playing. Your life revolves around hockey. I don’t think it was a goal of, “Hey, I want to make the NHL.” At some point, it became, “I want to play junior in Guelph.” That was my big goal. I thought that it would be a lot of fun to play for your hometown on a junior team, and it’d be a great accomplishment. I eventually got there, and then it snowballed into getting a shot to play in the NHL and making it.
WGR: Being a professional NHL player, it gives you a good base of understanding of what it’s like to be out there, right?
BM: Hockey has a unique culture. I think playing the game gives you a better insight into how the culture and team functions as well as how players look at things. For example, if you’re on a bad team, you know what’s going on within that dressing room. If you’re on a good team, you know what’s going on in that dressing room. To have all those experiences as a player, being on good and bad teams, teams that are unsettled with their coaching staff, teams with stability and a good coaching staff, it gives you great insights as you become a manager and have a greater influence on your own organization.
WGR: What was it like when you first met Ted Leonsis?
BM: Ted came in. He had a big personality. He wanted action, stories and things that he could promote and grow the team. He brought that energy into the hockey-ops department. He was fun, liked to tell stories and liked to be involved in things at that point. He was hands-on at…