The Maple Leafs will not be renewing the contract of team president Brendan Shanahan, the club announced.
In the announcement, MLSE President and CEO Keith Pelley wrote:
“Over the past 11 seasons, Brendan Shanahan has made countless contributions to the Toronto Maple Leafs on the ice, off the ice, and in the community. Brendan is one of the most respected leaders in the game, and he has instilled many of the traits that were the signature of his Hall of Fame career throughout the organization, uniting this storied franchise in the ‘Honour, Pride and Courage’ that it was founded on. Our responsibility and driving motivation, however, is to add a new chapter to the Maple Leafs’ championship history, and it was determined that a new voice was required to take the team to the next level in the years ahead. The franchise will be forever grateful for Brendan’s contributions and wishes him and his family every success and happiness in the future.”
In a follow-up statement provided by Jonas Siegel of The Athletic, Shanahan said, “While I am proud of the rebuild we embarked on starting in 2014, ultimately, I came here to help win the Stanley Cup, and we did not. There is nothing more I wanted to deliver to our fans, and my biggest regret is that we could not finish the job.”
Although the Maple Leafs never advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals under Shanahan’s leadership, the organization embarked on a meaningful return to relevancy. Before Shanahan took on the role as team President, the Maple Leafs had only qualified for the postseason once in the previous decade.
Shanahan helped put the pieces in place for the development of the ’Core Four’ in Toronto, although the team selected William Nylander a year prior to Shanahan’s hire. The quartet has combined for a plethora of individual hardware, and has pushed the Maple Leafs to the postseason in nine consecutive years.
Still, as Shanahan mentioned, the team hasn’t had much success in the postseason. Toronto has only made it out of Round One twice during that span, and has accumulated a playoff record of 31-39 under his stewardship.
Outside of Shanahan, all signs indicate that the Maple Leafs aren’t localizing this summer’s changes in the executive suites. There’s expectation that the team will let winger Mitch Marner walk during this year’s free agency, opening up financial room to explore other options.
Shanahan shouldn’t be available for long. Reports yesterday indicated that the New York Islanders have already been granted an interview with Shanahan for their top leadership position.