The future of the Toronto Maple Leafs revolves around one person and although you may think it's Auston Matthews, it's actually President & CEO Keith Pelley.
Press conferences dont win or lose championships, but if they did, the Leafs would somehow look worse than their current record suggests. That was as ugly as it could get and there shouldn't be a fan in the world that has confidence in this team moving forward.
And that's exactly why Pelley is the most important figure within the organization as he controls what happens with Matthews and the potential new President of Hockey Operations, general manager and head coach.
If Pelley is in fact in control over the organization's hockey decisions then we're all in big, big trouble (Billy Madison, anyone?). Controlling the business aspects of the team from partnerships, sales, marketing and game presentation is one thing, but he can't seriously think that he can be the one who makes the decision on whether or not this team "retools" or "rebuilds."
It's a huge plus to have someone as skilled as Auston Matthews on your roster, as he's a former Hart Trophy winner, but he doesn't guarantee a Stanley Cup. Look at the Edmonton Oilers as an example. They have Leon Draisaitl and Connor McDavid, who have both been league MVP's, yet they still haven't been able to win a championship.
One, let alone, two doesn't guarantee a championship as you need a full team effort to be succesful in the playoffs. If Pelley looks at Matthews and thinks that he's the answer to all of the Leafs problems, they're screwed.
Keith Pelley is the most important figure for the Leafs future
Pelley is the most important figure within this organization because he can lay the foundation of who represents this team for the next decade. If he hires the right President of Hockey Operations, who then hires the right GM and head coach, then that's a huge help.
It doesn't necessarily fix everything as even the smartest minds don't turn out winners, but they need an organized structure of what they had before. Pelley needs to take a step back like former CEO Michael Friisdahl and then hire the next Brendan Shanahan, Kyle Dubas and Sheldon Keefe.
During his tenure with the Leafs, you never saw Friisdahl talk about the teams but instead he was behind the scenes handling the business operations. It's a terrible look when Pelley is being asked about the Leafs during a TFC Press Conference and then during a Leafs Press Conference, he is referencing how the TFC overhaul was supported by data which is a similar philosophy he wants to bring to the Leafs.
Every single entity within MLSE, whether it's the Toronto Raptors, TFC, Toronto Marlies, Leafs or Toronto Argonauts needs to be handled by it's own figure-head and the team cannot have Pelley bouncing from team to team with new coloured glasses for every press conference.
The most important figure for the Leafs right now is Pelley, so hopefully he figures that out, goes into a bunker for a year and we don't see him again until the Leafs are Stanley Cup champions.