Why the Maple Leafs' Brain Trust Seems Ready to Make Major Moves
Brendan Shanahan and Brad Treliving on June 1, 2023
Dan Hamilton-USA TODAY Sports
The Toronto Maple Leafs held their end-of-season press conference with management on Friday. While the gathering included lots of corporate-speak, the essence of the meeting was clear: the Leafs are setting the stage for major moves this summer.
With that said, let’s break down the press conference into three key takeaways:
Shanahan Has Full Confidence of Ownership
This was the first press availability for new Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment CEO Keith Pelley, but if you were expecting a grandiose pronouncement on his new impact on the Leafs’ hockey operations department, you left disappointed.
Pelley made a cursory statement, then quickly turned over the proceedings to team president Brendan Shanahan. And while this was a typical Shanahan press conference – information was limited and extremely managed – the belief in Shanahan was readily apparent. Pelley seemed content to stay in the background, and you don’t do that if you don’t have faith in someone to get the job done.
Ultimately, if the team is in the same position at this time next year, Shanahan’s job security will be in jeopardy. But as it stands now, Leafs ownership, Shanahan and, by extension, GM Brad Treliving are still being trusted to figure out the answer for perennial playoff letdowns.
Shanahan Is In His Element
If Shanahan felt any heat, he didn’t show it at the press conference.
If you understand his history as a player, you understand that Shanahan has overcome the odds when the deck was stacked against him as a star player.
Indeed, Shanahan students know that it took him 10 seasons – and four different teams – before Shanahan won a Stanley Cup. He was on a Team Canada that finished in fourth place in the 1998 Winter Olympics before he won gold four years later.
Really, Shanahan is in his element when his back is against the wall. Although this next season might be his final kick at the can if things don’t improve significantly, he can assure himself of long-term job security if the Leafs win a couple of playoff rounds next spring. If not, he's going to fall on his sword at this time next year. But counting him out now would be folly.
Treliving Bringing Out Knives to Cut Up Leafs Roster
Leafs brass can't say, “so-and-so is a goner.” They also went to great pains to tell the public they wouldn’t be figuring out big decisions in public.
Still, the sense from this corner is that if we were any other Leafs player besides Auston Matthews, William Nylander and maybe Matthew Knies and a couple of top prospects, we’d be worried we wouldn’t be long for Toronto.
Shanahan and Treliving's disappointment was palpable. Treliving barely mentioned soon-to-be-ex-Leafs goalie Ilya Samsonov, so there were signs of his future. So, we fully expect the Buds to explore the market for 90 percent of their roster.
Obviously, Matthews and Nylander have signed big contract extensions with the organization, but if you’re Mitch Marner with one year remaining, you’re concerned about your future in Toronto.
If you’re a member of the supporting cast, you’re probably just as worried. Should Treliving find it problematic to trade Marner, he’ll almost assuredly turn his focus to the team’s secondary role players. And that could spell the end of the line for veterans deemed too costly financially.
In any case, Trelivng sounded like someone who isn’t about to run it back with the same group of players. Shanahan talked loosely about the process. But the process is now in a much more serious state. There’s no more room for error, and that’s why we expect the Leafs to be making many trade-and-roster-related moves this off-season.
