Brendan Shanahan needs a new plan. The same goes for the Toronto Maple Leafs.
The club’s matrix company announced Thursday that it would not renew Shanahan’s contract as president and alternative governor after more than a decade at work and only two victories of the postseason series, despite a shame of high -price offensive talent.
The 56-year-old was set aside after the elimination of the six original franchises in the second round of the playoffs of this spring by the Defense champion of the Stanley Florida Panthers Cup in a confrontation of the Atlantic division that included consecutive losses in the 6-1 home before the destination of Seal Toronto.
The Leafs were very successful in the regular season with an arsenal of stars, the so-called “Core Four” by Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, John Tavares and William Nylander, under Shanahan, but were only 2-9 in the playoff series with a higher salary structure.
“I want to thank the MLSE Board [Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment] For the tremendous support they have shown me about my mandate, “Shanahan said in the statement published by the team.” Toronto is where I was born and grew up, where my family still lives, and being part of this historical franchise will always be one of the greatest honors of my life.
“I want to thank the staff of the entire Maple Leafs for their commitment and hard work over the years: they are unsurpassed in the National Hockey League. I want to thank the students for all their support and the tremendous work they do in our games and within the community. Many of them were my heroes growing and it has been a pleasure to meet them on a personal level.
“I want to thank fans for their passion and loyalty. Your love for the team inspired me every day,” Shanahan continued. “While I am proud of the reconstruction that we embark on in 2014, ultimately, I came here to help win the Stanley Cup, and we did not. There is nothing more than I would like to give our fans, and my greatest repentance is that we could not finish the job.”
Toronto also lost seven consecutive contests of winning winners under Shanahan, scoring a solitary goal in five consecutive games.
The drought of the Leafs title extended to 58 years at the end of a mandate that covered 11 seasons.
New voice is required, says MLSE Exec Pelley
In a statement, the president and CEO of MLSE, Keith Pelley, called Shanahan “one of the most respected leaders of the game.”
“Our responsibility and motivation for driving, however, is to add a new chapter to the history of the Maple Leafs championship,” Pelley continued, who will talk to journalists at Scotiabank Arena on Friday at 1 PM et. “It was determined that a new voice was required to take the team to the next level in the coming years. The franchise will always be grateful for Brendan’s contributions.”
Shanahan praised the general manager of Maple Leafs, Brad Treliving and chief coach Craig Berube.
“I firmly believe that … they have done a great job in their time with the team. In addition, I want to thank the players. They are committed and passionate about delivering a championship to this city and will do everything within their power to achieve that goal. I wish you all the best.”
- Shanahan assumed the position in April 2014 after being poaching of the NHL offices, where he was a senior vice president, for the then resident and CEO of MLSE, Tim Leiweke.
- He hired chief coach Mike Babcock in 2015 before the club touched the right to select Matthews for the first time in the 2016 draft as part of the “Shanaplan” destined to put the Leafs on the way after years of poor management.
- The member of the Hockey 2013 Hochkey Hall brought to Lou Lamoriello, who selected Shanahan in second place in 1987, as general manager, but then left his former mentor in 2018 to give way to Kyle Dubas.
- After signing to Matthews, Marner, Tavares and Nylander to the long -term large money agreements, the Leafs finally made their way in the playoffs in 2023 after a great heartbreak when they defeated Tampa Bay’s lightning to advance for the first time since 2004 before leaning before the Panthers.
- Shanahan fired Dubas to finish a strange power struggle and tabulated Brad Trelive as his third full -time general manager. Toronto ended third in the Atlantic in 2023-24, the fifth time that the club broke 100 points in a complete campaign, but the Leafs fell to the Boston Bruins in the first round in seven games.
Chief coach Sheldon Keefe was fired by Toronto after five seasons in charge and that lonely series of the 2023 series.
Pelley, whose curriculum included the execution of TSN and Rogers Media, assumed the position in April 2024 as president and CEO of MLSE, the lords of one billion dollars of the Leafs with a sports portfolio that also includes the NBA raptors.
The NHL discipline Tsar before joining the Leafs, Shanahan was flanked by Pelley and Tiring at a season -end press conference the next month, the first time he was not the most powerful person in the organization in front of the cameras in a media report.
Berube hired last May
Toronto’s native previously supported his nucleus of star players at every step, but that melody changed just over a year ago.
“There is a time when the correct answer is patience,” Shanahan said in May 2024. “And then there comes a time when you have to say that you have new information, the information has evolved and you have to adjust your way of thinking.”
Toronto hired Berube last May as a replacement for Keefe, and the winner of the 2019 Cup with the St. Louis Blues guided his new team to another 100-point season and the title of the First Division of the Organization in an 82 Games season since 1999-00.
The Leafs opened the Playoffs of 2025 by beating the Senators of Ottawa 4-2 and took the first two competitions against Florida in the second round. Then 3-1 rose in game 3 before allowing panthers out of the mat with three consecutive losses, including an impressive 6-1 setback in game 5.
Toronto made a very close to a 2-0 decision that faced the elimination on the way to force game 7 at home, but again they were flat to suffer another shame of 6-1 in Scotiabank Arena such as Boos, and some shirts, they rained on the ice of a disappointed fan base.
“I do not question his dedication,” Shanahan said about the main players of the Leafs in what would be their last availability of media as president of the team about 12 months ago. “But I question only our capacity as a group to do so in those difficult times.”
That finally cost him his work.
On Wednesday, multiple media reported that the Leafs had granted permission to the islanders of New York to talk to Shanahan about an opening in their main office.
