The name kept coming up. Time and time again.

This day was supposed to be all about Mike Babcock. About how the Maple Leafs had finally won something, specifically the much-ballyhooed Babcock sweepstakes. About how the coach with two Olympic gold medals, a Stanley Cup rin, a world championship title and a world junior crown was the type of acquisition that would bring hope to a rabid fan base that had experienced far too little of that commodity during the circus that was the Maple Leafs’ 2014-15 season.

And yet, with more than a 100 media members packed inside the Gate 5 atrium at the Air Canada Centre for the Babcock introductory press conference/coronation, references kept being made about another member of the Leafs organization.

“I can tell you that Mark Hunter was a big part of this,” Leafs president Brendan Shanahan said, referring to the wooing — and subsequent landing — of Babcock. “He deserves a lot of the credit for this.”

It seems the aforementioned Mr. Hunter has a big fan in Mike Babcock, who becomes the 30th bench boss in Maple Leafs history.

“Mark Hunter is a guy I have an absolute ton of respect for,” Babcock said.

When the Maple Leafs brought in the former co-owner and general manager of the hugely successful London Knights to be their director of player personnel back in late October, it was done with far less fanfare than Babcock received on Thursday.

There was no television station filming from a traffic helicopter his arrival at the airport and subsequent drive to the Air Canada Centre as their was for Babcock. No video banner hanging from the side of the ACC blaring: “Welcome to Toronto, Mark.”

There wasn’t even a press conference announcing Hunter’s addition — just a press release.

Not that the former NHL winger cares about such things. Having racked up 213 goals during his career with Montreal, St. Louus, Calgary, Hartford and Washington, Hunter would rather do his job in relative anonymity instead of being showered with fanfare.

Having said that, Hunter’s hiring, when all is said and done, might be just as important as that of Babcock. Because, if the Leafs are to stick to their plans of a lengthy rebuild as Babcock and Shanahan vowed on Thursday, it will be the talent unearthed by Hunter and his scouts that will provide the foundation that will, in their minds, get them to the promised land.

And Babcock knows it.

“(Mark Hunter) gets players,” Babcock said. “The only way you get players is by getting draft picks. We have to get him draft picks.”

Where have we heard this “we-have-to-build-through-the-draft” schlock before? Wasn’t that Brian Burke’s ultimate plan here at one time, a blueprint that was quickly torn up in favour of a win-now philosophy that featured the acquisitions of veterans such as Francois Beauchemin, Mike Komisarek, Tim Connolly and even Phil Kessel, who cost the Leafs two first-round picks and a second?

How did that work out? Not so good.

This time, however, the optics, at least at this point, would suggest that management is dedicated to construct the foundation of the entire franchise through prospects. In terms of the hirings and firings of the past year, it’s obvious that the focus is to walk the walk.

Just look at the managerial staff Shanahan is building around himself. Put them all together, and they might win the award as the Ontario Hockey League’s front office of the year, even though they are at the NHL level.

Assistant GM Kyle Dubas, the innovative wonderboy GM of the Sault Ste Marie Greyhounds, was brought in last summer. Then came Hunter, lured out of London thanks to a multi-million dollar offer from Shanahan.

In recent days, the Leafs hired the Knights’ director of scouting and longtime OHL executive and coach Lindsay Hofford, a Hunter disciple, in a front office role to scout the OHL.

That addition was followed by the under-the-radar hiring of Saginaw Spirit GM Jim Paliafito, who now becomes Toronto’s director of player evaluation.

The next junior hockey type expected to be brought on board is Soo coach Sheldon Keefe, a Dubas favourite who has interviewed with the Leafs, presumably for the Marlies coaching job or perhaps as an assistant coach at the NHL level.

Hunter. Dubas. Hofford. Paliafito. Keefe. Twelve months ago, all were involved in junior hockey. A year later, all are key cogs — or, in Keefe’s case, a potential one — in the Leafs plans moving forward, usurping more seasoned NHL types such as Dave Poulin, Claude Loiselle and Gord Dineen.

In the process, it shows the organization’s desire for patience and development from within, a plan Babcock has fully bought into.

“Hunts, Dubes and Shanny were committed to doing this,” Babcock said. “I understand what the process is and what your going to have to do to make it happen.”

A good start to making “it happen” will be at next month’s draft in Sunrise, Fla., where the Leafs will hold the fourth and 24th overall picks. And with Hunter running the team’s draft show, things look to be in good hands.

Don’t just take our word for it. Just listen to a long-time Western Conference scout who was asked about Hunter by Postmedia during the OHL final between Erie and Oshawa last Friday, days before Babcock agreed to join the Leafs.

“Mark Hunter is the best damn hiring the Leafs have made in the last 10 years,” the scout said.

THE HUNT REMAINS FOR THE 'RIGHT' GM

The question posed to Mark Hunter was a simple one.

“Are you interested in the Leafs GM vacancy?” we asked him recently during the Generals-Erie Otters OHL final in Oshawa.

He could have said no, ending any kind of speculation about being a potential candidate for the job.

But he didn’t.

“I don’t know how to answer that,” he responded. And with that, the intrigue surrounding the Leafs GM job continues.

Hunter is a self-proclaimed scouting junkie who is as comfortable, if not more, being in a rink watching young hockey talent as he is in an executive’s office. He estimates he has scouted almost 200 games since joining the Leafs in late October.

Whatever team president Brendan Shanahan opts to do to fill the empty GM’s chair, Hunter, the team’s director of player personnel, certainly will have his fingerprints on any key decisions the organization makes moving forward.

On Thursday, Shanahan said he is in no rush to fill the opening, citing that the upcoming draft is in good hands under the watch of Hunter and Leafs assistant GM Kyle Dubas.

“Next, we will be meeting more with (incoming coach Mike Babcock) and getting a plan,” Shanahan said on Thursday. “As much as Mike and I have talked, we have more to talk about. For me, I am still interested in pursuing a general manager if the general manager fits. For the immediate days, it’s more about Mike getting to know our organization from top to bottom.”

Mike Futa, the Los Angeles Kings director of player personnel, would be an excellent candidate. Lightning assistant GM Julien Brisebois, Rangers assistant GM Jeff Gorton and former Caps GM George McPhee are also reportedly on the Leafs radar.

“My plan hasn’t changed from the end of the season,” Shanahan said. “It’s about finding the right people. I am not as concerned about the timing. I think we are in real good shape for the draft. If we find the right guy, we’ll move on the right guy.”

If there is no GM in place by the draft, which runs June 26-27, Shanahan said decisions will be made by the existing managerial team.

“We all have relationships with people,” Shanahan said.

“I think some people call me and some people call Mark (Hunter.

“If we are approaching the draft and we don’t have a GM in place at that time, I will probably just put something out telling people to call me. I do think at a certain point you do have a point person to communicate, but that is not my focus right now.

“My focus is for searching for someone that is the right fit and if we do have to go to the draft and we have to make decisions as a group right now, I am confident in the people that we have that we can make those decisions.”