Shanahan and Leafs Part Ways

 

From Yahoo Sports

The worst-kept secret has finally been made official, as MLSE President Keith Pelley announced Thursday afternoon that they will not renew Brendan Shanahan’s contract, which expires on June 30th.

Brendan was hired back in 2014, and he accomplished a lot of great things with the organization. He mended many fences with Leafs alumni and brought Dave Keon back into the fold—a man who had sworn never to be affiliated with the Leafs again after the poor treatment he received from management at the time.

Brendan brought in Lou Lamoriello as GM and later hired Mike Babcock. At the time, these looked like extremely positive additions—and, honestly, they were. Mike and Lou helped change the Leafs’ culture by making Toronto an attractive destination for big-name players, something that was once considered a pipe dream. Of course, we know Babcock’s time with the Maple Leafs didn’t end well, and we’re all aware of the various controversies.

After Lou left the organization, Kyle Dubas was named GM following his success in building a Calder Cup-winning team with the Toronto Marlies. Dubas’s first major move as GM was signing John Tavares. However, despite his efforts, Dubas couldn’t get the team over the hump and was eventually let go. He was replaced by Brad Treliving, who, in my opinion, has done a great job in his two seasons so far.

Shanahan, though, made a number of mistakes. He insisted on keeping the core together when many fans knew a change was needed. When Dubas hinted at breaking up the core, Shanahan fired him. There was also a proposed trade during Dubas’s tenure that would have sent a first-round pick and Petr Mrazek to Chicago for Marc-André Fleury at 50% salary retention, but Brendan blocked the deal. Fast forward to Treliving’s first summer as GM—he was hired by Shanahan just five weeks before free agency opened. Shanahan publicly stated that everyone would be returning, which effectively prevented Brad from making any significant moves with the core. That’s likely why we’ll now see Mitch Marner leave the Maple Leafs for nothing in return.

So what does this all mean for Brad Treliving? He’s likely safe. Chris Johnston has already reported that his sources within MLSE are very happy with the job Treliving has done, and they’re also extremely pleased with Craig Berube’s first season as Maple Leafs head coach. It now seems that Treliving will report directly to Keith Pelley, as the expectation is that each organization under the MLSE umbrella will operate without a dedicated team president. Keith has already done this with Toronto FC and now with the Leafs, and will likely do the same with the Raptors when the time comes.

If you remember when Keith first spoke to the media after being named CEO of MLSE, he said, “I’m here to win, not sell jerseys.” He’s focused on winning because he knows his bosses at Rogers care about results. The more the Leafs win, the more money Rogers makes from MLSE. It’s also believed that Keith will begin streamlining the Leafs’ front office, meaning some assistant management staff may be let go. The Toronto Maple Leafs currently have one of the largest—if not the largest—front offices in the league.

Keith Pelley is expected to speak to the media on Friday afternoon around 1 p.m. I’ll be tuning in, and if anything noteworthy comes from it, I’ll be sure to write about it.

It’s shaping up to be a very interesting offseason in Toronto. The first domino has fallen, and don’t be surprised if you see the New York Islanders hire Brendan Shanahan, as they’ve already been granted permission to interview him.