On April 2nd the Toronto Maple Leafs got a new boss.
Keith Pelley, formerly the CEO of Rogers, TSN and the Toronto Argos, among other things, was hired to run MLSE, the company that runs the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Pelley is in charge of deciding who will run the Leafs, and it is expected that he will want to make changes to bring the team in line with his vision, whatever that may be.
The first order of business should be to end the "Shanaplan" and fire Brendan Shanahan and his stooge, GM Brad Treliving whose first (and only) season at the helm was a disaster.
Toronto Maple Leafs Need New Management
I think the Shanahan Era has been successful - the Leafs stuck to their guns and followed through on his promise to value the process over results. I love that he let Kyle Dubas run the team even though he was young and this wasn't a popular move. I love that Shanahan gave us the best eight years of competitive Leafs hockey we've had since 1967.
But the time for change was last year during the famous Dubas/Shanahan power-struggle. Ultimately, Dubas lost and went to Pittsburgh and based on how the Leafs were ran afterwards it was clear who was really in charge for the last eight years: Shanahan.
Nothing changed under Treliving, who is nothing more than Shanahan's yes-man. The Leafs somehow became even more one-dimensional, getting worse at defense and better at scoring. Until the playoffs where they suddenly tried to change course and become a grinding team. This had the preditable result of making it impossible to score.
Treliving had a bad year. His summer signings were mediocre at best, and his decision to sit out the tarde deadline was a disgraceful embarassment. He will go down with Gord Stellick and John Ferguson Jr as one of the Leafs worst ever GMs.
The Leafs simply cannot continue on with one of the worst GMs in the game. Shanahan had his run and while it wasn't all bad, it's clear this team needs a new direction.
It goes without saying that if Shanahan goes, his GM and coach should also go. The talk today is about the Core Four, but that's a distraction. The Leafs can't make any roster decisions until Keith Pelley hires a new Team President and GM.
Brandan Shanahan and Brad Treliving are done.