Toronto Maple Leafs fans could end up having something common with the Nashville Predators’ faithful.
According to a recent report in RG Media, league sources are linking former Leafs’ president Brendan Shanahan to the Predators’ current vacancy.
Earlier this season, current GM Barry Trotz announced his retirement, leaving the team in search of his successor. While the Preds don’t currently technically have a President of Hockey Operations, Trotz has been acting in that role.
That’s why the chatter now is that Shanahan would take over that role once Trotz officially retires. One anonymous source told veteran journalist James Murphy that, while there’s nothing “set in stone,” the chatter will continue to pick up.
“There is nothing set in stone here, but I keep hearing this could become a real scenario for Nashville. Shanahan would be the President of Hockey Operations and Bergevin the GM.”
It’s worth pointing out that the source also linked current Buffalo Sabres assistant GM Marc Bergevin as the GM candidate.
If such a situation unfolds, Predators fans will know soon enough what Maple Leafs fans already know. The club will commit top dollars to a core, while adding around the fringes every season. The Predators could have their own version of a “core four,” or five, or whatever it may be, with the hope that the core will be enough to take them to the promised land.
With players like Roman Josi and Juuse Saros, the Predators do have a solid core. Filip Forsberg, Ryan O’Reilly, and Steven Stamkos are solid, if aging. So, could there be a rebuild on the horizon in Nashville? Could that be the reason for targeting Shanahan at this point?
Could Nashville get its own version of the Shanaplan?
When Shanahan took over the Maple Leafs job over a decade ago, he promised pain in the impending rebuild. The Great Tank of 2016 brought the Auston Matthews era into the mix.
Unfortunately, Maple Leafs fans are still waiting for the “Shanaplan” to yield results. The Core Four experiment didn’t work. And, well, seasons of cheaping out on depth additions didn’t offer much to the team.
There were two GM and three coaching changes. Nothing. Currently, Brad Treliving and Craig Berube are trying to do whatever they can to erase the vestiges of the failed Shanaplan.
Yes, we can officially deem the Shanaplan as a failure. If that’s what’s in store for Predators fans, it could be a long road back to contention for the Central Division club.