It’s been less than 24 hours since the Toronto Maple Leafs officially announced they would not be renewing the contract of Brendan Shanahan.
Shanahan was president of hockey operations for the last 11 years in Toronto and just played out the final season of a six-year contract extension with the team signed in 2019. It had been widely speculated that another playoff disappointment would result in the end of the Shanaplan, and that in fact was the case.
The 56-year-old was known for his construction of the Core 4, including Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, William Nylander, and John Tavares. Those four-star forwards took up a vast majority of the Maple Leafs’ salary cap space, demonstrating Shanahan’s belief in them.
While they produced tremendously in the regular season, the playoffs were this core’s kryptonite. Despite that, Shanahan continued to go back to the well year after year, seeing the same results. It all accumulated to turn into a very disappointing era of Maple Leafs hockey.
On Friday afternoon, MLSE CEO Keith Pelley spoke for the first time since making changes to the front office. The Toronto Maple Leafs shared his full press conference on YouTube.
“It was a difficult and a very tough day. Brendan Shanahan is an integral part of the Leafs’ history. His 11 years here, he accomplished so many incredible things, and I really thoroughly enjoyed working with Brendan over the last year. He’s a quality individual. He’s a legend in the hockey world, and as I said to him yesterday, wherever he goes, I know he will be successful, and I wish him and his family the very best.” Pelley said (3:25).
Brendan Shanahan has already been granted permission to speak with the New York Islanders about their vacant president of hockey operations role.
Keith Pelley shared more on his decision to move on from Brendan Shanahan
During his press conference, Keith Pelley specified that it was his decision to let Brendan Shanahan go.
The Maple Leafs shared the full video on YouTube.
“This was, this was my decision. Had the support of ownership; had that conversation yesterday, and we made the decision. I talked to Brendan at 3 p.m. Eastern yesterday. He, as expected, acted like a true professional, the Hall of Famer that he is, understood, and wanted to move very, very quickly,” Pelley said (10:35).
Pelley also went on to mention that he isn’t expecting to hire another president of hockey operations; rather, he will work closer with general manager Brad Treliving and head coach Craig Berube moving forward.
It’s an interesting start to what could be a transformative offseason for the Toronto Maple Leafs.
alt=”Jackson Weber” height=”72″ width=”72″>
Edited by Jackson Weber
