The Toronto Maple Leafs cannot keep doing the same things over and over and hoping for different results — the franchise isn't insane. What they are is starved for a Stanley Cup, and after another disappointing postseason exit, it looks like the front office is no longer interested in the status quo.
Sheldon Keefe was fired this week after five years as head coach in Toronto — and nine in the Leafs' organization — and president Brendan Shanahan made it clear on Friday that more changes could be coming.
“We will look at everything this summer and will consider everything with the intention of making the Maple Leafs better and to win,” Shanahan said while taking responsibility for the team's continued failures in the postseason.
“Our results in the playoffs have not been good enough. That's on me.. …It has certainly become evident that we have to assess all of those things and assess if we have to do some very difficult things to make the team better.”
Shanahan met with reporters just a day after Keefe's firing, along with general manager Brad Treliving and Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment CEO Keith Pelley.
And although he's consistently defended the “Core 4” — Mitch Marner, John Tavares, Auston Matthews and William Nylander — his tone on Friday signified he may at least be open to moving one of the team's star players.
“Without saying it explicitly, the [Leafs] leadership/management couldn't have made it more clear reading between the lines that they're going to explore moving one or more members of their core this summer,” reported The Athletic's Chris Johnston shortly after the media availability.
Leafs fall short again; Brendan Shanahan keeps his job
Although Keefe will no longer be involved in Toronto, the same can't be said for Shanahan, who will remain in his role as president and alternate governor. Treliving will also stay on as GM, and he took some blame as well while explaining that a change at head coach was necessary for the organization.
“We need to find a way to do the hard unsexy things longer, and they're not related to skill,” the general manager remarked.
Could that mean that one of the Leafs' star forwards could be on the move this summer? For most fans in Toronto, they'll believe it when they see it.
“We need to win,” said MLSE CEO Pelley, who has been in the role for less than a month. “Nothing else matters.”
That much is true in the league's most scrutinized media market, and it just isn't happening with the team as currently constructed. The Leafs' 2023-24 season ended with a 2-1 overtime loss in Game 7 to the Boston Bruins — a contest the team led with under 10 minutes remaining in regulation.
Despite another strong regular-season, this group just cannot seem to rise to the occasion in the most critical moments. And because of it, this could be a significantly different Leafs team — both on the ice and behind the bench — come training camp.
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