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It’s an ugly inventory that overshadows a lot of the good Shanahan did for a franchise that was lost at sea when he arrived.

But you can make the case Shanahan鈥檚 biggest error was taking the wrong side of a timeless nature-versus-nurture debate. Are big-game players born or made? Can the lessons of repeated failure create playoff-worthy 鈥渄awgs,鈥� to use the word Kadri recently popularized in a brilliant bit of social-media tsk-tsking at the Colorado Avalanche for trading away a clutch-time dominator named Mikko Rantanen.

Through the years as the Leafs鈥� record of playoff futility got uglier and uglier, Shanahan essentially doubled and tripled and quadrupled down on the idea that his Core Four players could change their essence. Shanahan made a bet that with the help of world-class sports psychology, and the mentorship of veteran teammates and the lessons of losses, the Leafs could eventually train their best players to have the growl of playoff pit bulls.

Alas, when the lights have been brightest, the highest paid Leafs mostly performed more like lapdogs.

What the Leafs should do about that now that Shanahan is gone is anyone鈥檚 guess. But MLSE CEO Keith Pelley, on the job for a little more than a year, made two things clear on Friday. For one, the franchise鈥檚 standards are higher than the low bar Shanahan set for more than a decade.

鈥淢ake no mistake about it, making the playoffs and winning rounds is not our aspirational goal,鈥� Pelley said. 鈥淥ur goal is to win the Stanley Cup.鈥�

For another, the Leafs are GM Brad Treliving鈥檚 team now. There are no plans to replace Shanahan. There are also no easy solutions to fix the core issue Shanahan allowed to fester: the big-game malaise of an entitled team whose captain has never scored a goal in a winner-take-all loss.

Pelley didn鈥檛 claim to have any answers. As much as he said he would work closely with Treliving and coach Craig Berube, he acknowledged the hockey decisions will lie with the hockey men. But Pelley did take a moment to quash the idea that the pressure created by Toronto鈥檚 fans and media is at the heart of the team鈥檚 non-performance聽鈥� a notion put forth most recently by members of the Florida chapter of the NHL players鈥� union.

鈥淧ressure is a privilege,鈥� Pelley said Friday. 鈥淚 respect, understand and appreciate (the fans鈥�) disappointment in the way their season ended. I thank them for it, the way that they鈥檝e invested in the team 鈥� Winning is the only thing that matters.鈥�

Give Pelley credit for having the market savvy to understand that fans are to be honoured. It鈥檚 OK for players to label the chatter around the team derisively as outside noise. But considering the Shanaplan era began with Salute-gate, a player-driven eff-you to Leafs fans that marred Dion Phaneuf鈥檚 captaincy, it鈥檚 a fine line between staying in your bubble and snubbing the people who inject the passion and the cash into the operation.

Pelley said he鈥檇 sat down to dinner with Berube on Thursday and called him an 鈥渋ncredible asset鈥澛犫�� implying Berube might lend insight as Treliving partakes in the task of team building. A coach, of course, is only an asset if his GM respects his counsel. There鈥檚 no reason to believe that respect doesn鈥檛 exist. But coach-GM relationships can be tricky if the coach thinks he鈥檚 co-GM; let鈥檚 not forget Mike Babcock鈥檚 adventures in occasionally burying Dubas acquisitions in what amounted to a territorial flex.

Now we鈥檒l see how Treliving sees this team. If Shanahan essentially tied Treliving鈥檚 hands behind his back, famously calling the Core Four to assure them their positions in Leafland were safe in the wake of the Dubas鈥檚 firing in 2023, Treliving has options聽鈥� albeit, thanks to Shanahan鈥檚 stubbornness, not wholly attractive ones. Letting impending free-agents Marner and/or John Tavares leave for their salary-cap space is on the list.

Pelley was complimentary of Treliving鈥檚 buoying of Toronto鈥檚 goaltending and defence.

鈥淚 think we鈥檝e made strides,鈥� he said more than once.

And he was deferential to Berube鈥檚 possession of a Stanley Cup ring.

鈥淐hief changed the culture,鈥� Pelley said.

But neither Treliving鈥檚 roster building nor Berube鈥檚 influence changed the end result: the seventh loss in seven winner-take-all-games in the Shanaplan era.

If you don鈥檛 have dawgs, what do you do? Treliving and Berube are on the clock to find this team some snarl.