Steve Simmons with a pretty good breakdown of how the deal came together:
The deal for the new general manager of the Maple Leafs is three years in length, more than $9 million in salary, and all it will cost the club to sign one of hockey?s iconic figures is a third-round draft pick down the road, the most compensation ever awarded for a 72-year-old hockey executive.
The chase began the way so many hockey negotiations begin, with Brendan Shanahan making a telephone call to Josh Harris, co-owner of the New Jersey Devils. A couple of days earlier, Ray Shero had been named GM of the Devils. Lamoriello kicked himself upstairs, or so the story went.
Shanahan wondered: Would his old mentor have any interest in working for him in Toronto?
He called the Devils and requested permission to talk to Lamoriello about the Leafs? GM opening.
Harris wasn?t exactly welcoming.
?Let me call you back,? he said.
One day later, still surprised by the Leafs? request, Harris reluctantly agreed.
?Look, we don?t want to lose Lou,? Harris said in his call back. ?And I?m not sure how he?s going to respond to you. But go ahead, you can call him and talk to him.?
...
May became June and, suddenly, Shanahan?s emphasis became hockey only. There was the draft to finalize preparations for. There was the upcoming free agency. There was the trading he hoped to accomplish. There wasn?t time to be all over a GM search.
?We had sort of stopped communicating around the draft and free agency,? Shanahan said of Lamoriello. ?I never thought it was dead, but there were times when I thought it was less likely to happen. I really believed it was a good fit for him, a good fit for us. What I didn?t know is what he was thinking.?
?I don?t know how many of you know Brendan, but if I want anybody recruited anywhere, I?m sending Brendan (to do it),? Lamoriello explained.
...
Then, early Wednesday evening, the phone rang. Lamoriello called Shanahan.
?Are you still interested?? asked Lamoriello.
Shanahan wanted to scream into the phone, but didn?t.
?Okay,? Shanahan said. ?Let?s do this.?
The negotiations didn?t take long. And in little more than a year on the job, Shanahan has signed up a Hall of Fame general manager and a coach who will be heading there one day.
http://www.torontosun.com/2015/07/23/anatomy-of-the-leafs-deal-with-lou-lamoriello