Insider Trading: Maple Leafs move forward without a team president

MLSE president and CEO Keith Pelley revealed that they will not be filling the team president role Brendan Shanahan leaves behind. James Duthie is joined by TSN's Hockey Insiders to discuss the latest from Toronto and what's in store for the future.

James Duthie: They are your insiders: Chris Johnston, Pierre LeBrun and Darren Dreger. Keith Pelley, the president and CEO of Maple Leafs Sports & Entertainment had plenty to say about Brendan Shanahan’s departure and the Leafs’ exit from the playoffs in his news conference. “Pressure is a privilege,” “good isn’t good enough” are a couple of the buzz phrases used. But Pierre, I suppose the only real news out of this is that Brendan Shanahan is not being replaced. That the replacement, essentially, is Keith Pelley.  

Pierre LeBrun: Yes, he is I guess the new voice, quote unquote, that was referred to in a statement from Keith Pelley on Thursday when they announced the departure of Brendan Shanahan. And in that part of the statement itself by the way had some people within the organization wondering, well wait a minute, will there in fact be a replacement for Shanahan. But no, it was the plan all along that if this is where MLSE was going, that Keith Pelley would not replace him and there would be more of a direct line between Pelley and general manager Brad Treliving on a day-to-day basis. Some sense in the organization that once Keith Pelley came on board at MLSE as CEO there was a bit of overlap with Shanahan, so this was probably inevitable. But there was some discussion internally I’m told about perhaps a one-year extension for Shanahan. Maybe punt the ball down the road here with all of this. But that didn’t make sense for Shanahan, who would have wanted a longer-term commitment, and that’s why it was actually never offered.

Chris Johnston: And as we dig through how we got here in that last few days, I think what’s interesting to me is the fact that the way the Leafs lost Game 7 to Florida on Sunday did impact what happened here. That 6-1 loss of course, you see the sweaters being tossed on the ice, some beers, the whole bit. I mean, that, coupled with the Game 5 loss by the same score at Scotiabank Arena, did impact some of the decision making. And that might sound a little crazy, this is an 11-year tenure for Shanahan. He obviously did a lot of positive things as Keith Pelley highlighted, but I think the way the team went out in that manner really did impact the ultimate decision making at the end. And as we looked forward when you talk about will there or will not there be a president, I will say this: It’s possible down the road they’d be open to doing it. It’s just not something they want to rush into right now.

Darren Dreger: Yeah, look, I mean the way that Toronto lost Game 5 and Game 7, that rattled everyone, including members of the Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment board. I’m told that key members of that board reached out to Brendan Shanahan and perhaps Brad Treliving to say hey, what happened, we want to meet, we want you to explain what happened in Game 5 and Game 7 and perhaps provide a forecast as to how this isn’t going to happen again. So preparations were made by Shanahan and Treliving to have those meetings, but those meetings did not happen before the decision was made to cut ties with Shanahan.

LeBrun: Yeah, in the meantime, Brad Treliving’s world has just changed. Brendan Shanahan is the guy that brought him in, those two guys formed a real close bond and now reporting day-to-day to Keith Pelley. So this will be a new experience for Treliving. Also, we know that he has two years left on his contract as Leafs GM. And so, what I would say is the next 12 months are very interesting. Very interesting for Treliving to see how things work with Pelley and very interesting for Pelley to see what he thinks of Treliving after working with him on a day-to-day basis in terms of us having this conversation again in 12 months. So, pretty big off-season here.

Duthie: So new duties for Treliving, but his primary duty is to build the team that can win the Stanley Cup. Does that mean a roster overhaul or tinkering?

Dreger: I would say more than tinkering. Adding some significant pieces, but not an overhaul per se. I know that the Toronto Maple Leafs are interested in acquiring or adding heavier players. And they’re going to have to use some of the money that perhaps they invest from Mitch Marner. I mean, if they don’t choose to extend Marner or engage in that level of negotiation, then obviously they’re going to have that money to add some different pieces. There’s been an internal competition that I think is key and perhaps overlooked at times between Matthews, Nylander and Marner, but is that in the best interest culturally in terms of how you need to win in the Stanley Cup Playoffs? So, I think that cultural dynamic is key to Brad Treliving, it’s key to head coach Craig Berube, so perhaps they use some of that Marner money to add the experience of proven, heavier playoff performers.

Duthie: So is it a foregone conclusion that Marner is gone?

Dreger: I wouldn’t say foregone conclusion, but it does feel like there’s a strong appetite for change from both sides. Marner will go to the open market July 1. But I can’t sit here and say that the Toronto Maple Leafs are definitely out.

Johnston: Well one player we absolutely know wants to stay is John Tavares. And I think his file is one that we expect to be open here pretty soon. The intentions are from Tavares’ camp to have some discussions with the Leafs and heading in, both sides want the same thing. The player wants to stay and I think there’s interest from the team side to see that happen but the devil is in the details and we’ll have to see what kind of a contract works for both sides. I mean, Tavares scored 38 goals this season. That’s the most among every player that’s eligible to be an unrestricted free agent this year. But it’s his goal to win a Stanley Cup. He wants to do that in Toronto, so there might have to be some concession when it comes to the deal. I would think they’re going to get down to work here pretty soon.

Duthie: And the one other thing Pelley mentioned a couple of times is how Florida is man-handling Carolina, maybe suggesting Toronto was closer than everybody thinks but clearly not close enough.