The Toronto Maple Leafs made it official on Thursday afternoon: Brendan Shanahan’s time as the President and Alternate Governor of the organization has come to an end.
MLSE President and CEO Keith Pelley provided the following statement:
“Over the past 11 seasons, Brendan Shanahan has made countless contributions to the Toronto Maple Leafs on the ice, off the ice and in the community. Brendan is one of the most respected leaders in the game and he has instilled many of the traits that were the signature of his Hall of Fame career throughout the organization, uniting this storied franchise in the ‘Honour, Pride and Courage’ that it was founded on. Our responsibility and driving motivation, however, is to add a new chapter to the Maple Leafs’ championship history, and it was determined that a new voice was required to take the team to the next level in the years ahead. The franchise will be forever grateful for Brendan’s contributions and wish him and his family every success and happiness in the future.”
Shanahan also released a statement that included the sentence, “While I am proud of the rebuild we embarked on starting in 2014, ultimately, I came here to win the Stanley Cup, and we did not.” Shanahan alluded to Craig Berube and Brad Treliving’s “excellence” in their roles, strongly hinting that Treliving would continue in the GM seat, which Elliotte Friedman later confirmed:
Hearing that Brad Treliving is staying as Toronto’s General Manager
— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) May 22, 2025
Just yesterday, we reflected on Shanahan’s decade-long tenure in great detail, although it was written in the context of where the “Shanaplan” ultimately fell short. It left out some of the notable accomplishments of Shanahan’s reign as he led the organization out of the doldrums of the Dave Nonis/Randy Carlyle era, including recruiting some of the biggest names in hockey to work behind the bench and in the team’s front office (as well also on the ice with the successful John Tavares recruitment effort in 2018), overseeing a successful tank and lottery win season in 2015-16 that landed a generational face-of-the-franchise talent, and repairing relationships within the club’s alumni community, among other off-ice accomplishments.
Under Shanahan’s watch, regular-season respectability was restored to the organization thanks to a successful and relatively expeditious rebuild — driven by a string of homerun picks in the top 10 of the draft — that took the Leafs from a perennial bottom dweller to a playoff team for nine straight seasons, which is the current high water mark in the league. Shanahan helped modernize the organization with the establishment of or increased investment in sports science/performance, hockey research, and player development. Without exception, every new Leaf — coach, manager, or player — who arrives in Toronto remarks that no organization takes care of its personnel better or provides them with more resources to succeed than the Toronto Maple Leafs, who genuinely benefit from this awareness among players and brain trust at all levels of the sport when recruiting talent.
The ultimate downfall, of course, was that Shanahan’s Leafs could never get over the playoff hump. In fact, the team never even really got close, only making it as far as the second round twice. Ultimately, Shanahan hitched his wagon to the Leafs’ core four eventually breaking through in the spring, and despite countless iterations of coaching staffs and supporting casts around them (plus three different GMs), they never rewarded his faith.
As successful as Shanahan was at restoring the respectability of the Maple Leaf brand in his early years, the anger and disappointment among the fan base about the year-over-year playoff shortfalls — particularly the perception/reality they couldn’t be trusted to show up in the biggest series-deciding moments — led to an ugly scene at the Scotiabank Arena this spring wherein jerseys and debris were littered on the ice between whistles and during active gameplay in Game 7. This, unfortunately, became the lasting image of the 2024-25 season in what was otherwise the most successful year of on-ice accomplishment in the Auston Matthews era (a division title plus seven playoff wins). It wasn’t a good look for the brand, of which Shanahan was the organization’s steward, as ownership was reportedly embarrassed and disappointed by how the Florida series ended.
Indeed, there are no moral victories in the playoffs for the Leafs anymore, and the expectations are heightened beyond simply “happy to be in the mix.” The bar for the ownership group was seemingly set at a Conference Finals appearance this season. While there might have been a case to be made that losing to the Cup champs in the second round in seven games — after a regular division title and a first-round win over a provincial rival — was a palatable overall result this season, the manner in which Game 5 and Game 7 played out on home ice against the Panthers cast a dark cloud over those silver linings. The expectations are higher than this, and today’s announcement from MLSE leadership sends that message loud and clear.
The assumption has been that the Leafs will proceed without a President for the time being, as Brad Treliving continues to run the front office entering his third offseason in the GM role. We’ll have more clarity on the front office structure and possible plans for a future President hire when Pelley addresses the media on Friday at 1 p.m. EST.
