With Brendan Shanahan leaving the Leafs, things have been shaken up a bit. And by a bit, I mean quite a bit. Shanahan was with the Leafs for 11 seasons and is the man responsible for building the team into what it is today. Despite his best efforts, the Leafs have still come up short when it comes to winning the Stanley Cup. In the end, it was Rogers Communications, the owner of Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment, that made the call to get rid of Shanahan.
This leaves the question of who will replace him? With no successor named so far, it seems head coach Craig Berube will have more power going forward with the Leafs. Berube himself isn't happy to see Shanahan leave and has said nothing but good things about him. "He did a great job in Toronto, building a really good team and a competitive team for as long as they've been," said Berube on the Nasty Knuckles Podcast.
All feelings aside, the move the remove Shanahan will give Berube some more leeway in the way he does his business. He won't have someone above him to question his choice, and he will have more say when it comes to who the Leafs can sign and get rid of.
This breaks from the NHL norm of a team having a president and streamlines how things are done without there being too many people doing the same job and making the decisions. Now that Shanahan is no longer a potential obstacle, Berube will be able to influence the roster even more than he already does. Berube has already said he would like the Leafs to keep Mitch Marner and John Tavares on the team, something that the team president can veto.
Then there is Keith Pelley, with Shanahan's departure he has decided to make some big changes and is the one who is responsible for giving Berube more power in concert with Brad Treliving. Pelley seems determined to change the entire makeup of the management that runs the Leafs and wants to make sure things are more efficient. "The combination of Brad nd Craig Berube changed the makeup of the hockey club. Hopefully, they will build on that. I have the utmost confidence in both of them," said Pelley on the 100% Hockey Podcast.
This upcoming season will only be Berube's second season with the team, and with his power expanded and without a team president to reject any of his possible ideas, only time will tell how he manages the new influence he has gained within the organization. The most important thing now for how high-level decisions are made his how well Berube and Treliving will work together.