Steve Staios was spotted walking around Toronto’s draft hotel headquarters on Friday with a Maple Leaf golf shirt on, but he’s not coming as a player.

The team has some sort of off-ice role in mind for the 16-year NHL veteran defenceman, who played his 1,000th game at the end of the 2011-12 season.

“He could be scouting for us,” said senior vice-president of hockey operations Dave Nonis. “We’re looking at a couple of things.”

The Hamilton native was set to retire last year when agent Pat Morris made a strong case to have the New York Islanders give him a chance at camp. Staois stayed on for his milestone game, having played primarily in Western Canada for Edmonton, Calgary and Vancouver. He was originally a draft pick of the St. Louis Blues.

It’s not known when or if the Leafs will be replacing Rick Dudley, who was on their player personnel staff before joining the Canadiens’ front office as assistant general manager.