Scott,
You can cut the dead leader out to the next live leader. The tree will then develop its own crown. Don't worry about trying to help it out. Maples are decurrent (broad crowned) species and this will be ok in a young tree such as this.
I am curious as to why this leader died. Could you post pictures of the dead area, the trunk and the base of the tree?
Also, when you post pictures it is helpful to first open them in Paint, select Image, then Stretch/skew. Reduce using 25% of horizontal and vertical. Then save. Then post. This will reduce the photo enough to fit in the website formate and yet be large enough for us to see detail.
Sylvia