The job description that comes with being president of the Maple Leafs is now very succinct and to the point.
Make history. Full stop.
Not to make the playoffs consistently and win division titles. Not be a destination for top NHL players and coaches. Not to run a world-class organization.
Make history. Win the Stanley Cup. Period. Anything else is failure.
Listen to the words of Brendan Shanahan, dismissed as team president Thursday after a successful 11-year run in which the team acquired thrilling elite talent and became a consistent regular-season winner after a lengthy period of losing.
鈥淲hile 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.鈥
For that, he was fired. Or not renewed. Whatever you want to call it.
That means the next person to occupy this particular hot seat won鈥檛 have time to rebuild or reorganize or set a new direction.
Just win, baby. Now.
The Leafs president put too much stock in his stars and the stubborn belief they could bring
That the Leafs don鈥檛 currently own the personnel capable of winning the Cup, well, that apparently will have to be figured out. People wanted someone鈥檚 head for the unspeakable crime of losing a hard fought seven-game series to the Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers, and they got Shanahan鈥檚. Wait until they realize firing good people isn鈥檛 necessarily progress. Wait until they realize getting rid of the kid from Mimico isn鈥檛 going to automatically help the team score more than a single goal in Game 7 situations.
It does give Keith Pelley and the organization some breathing room to carefully consider how they want to proceed with their current roster, particularly Mitch Marner and John Tavares. It鈥檚 easier, for example, to bring Marner back now that a high-profile scapegoat has been identified.
That said, right now, the No. 1 priority聽鈥 yes, ahead of Marner and Tavares聽鈥 should be to get winger Matthew Knies locked up, and Lord help GM Brad Treliving if he doesn鈥檛 get that done. Then again, Treliving had 12 months to get more scoring for his team after it couldn鈥檛 score in a seven-game loss to the Boston Bruins in the 2024 playoffs, and didn鈥檛 get that job done.
Putting all the blame on Shanahan creates the opportunity to generate a sense of change to present to the 海角社区官网hockey public. So who could take on this task next? Or, assuming this is a hockey job and not a business/corporate job, what hockey person of note should the Leafs target?
It often seemed like Mike Babcock was trying to sabotage his development. And the team lowballed
Well, No. 1 on the list has to be former Leafs forward Jeff Jackson, who is now CEO of hockey operations for the Edmonton Oilers. Jackson, who worked in the Leafs front office from 2006 to 2010, has led an Edmonton organization that has made it to consecutive Western Conference finals, a team that was within 60 minutes of winning it all last season.
Jackson has brought a distinct take-no-prisoners attitude to the Oilers. He okayed the acquisition of Corey Perry after he was cut loose by Chicago under murky circumstances. He has stood by the always controversial Evander Kane. He dumped Ken Holland after last year鈥檚 playoff run and brought in Stan Bowman, who had left the Blackhawks in disgrace in 2021 in the aftermath of that organization鈥檚 appalling sex scandal.
But here鈥檚 Jackson鈥檚 biggest drawing card; he was once Connor McDavid鈥檚 agent, and that was a big reason why he got the top job in Edmonton despite no previous experience running a team. McDavid is a free agent after next season and if you鈥檙e a diehard Leafs fan who dreams of McJesus in blue and white, this might be one way to make that happen.
Who else? Well, obviously Florida GM Bill Zito would be at to top of anyone鈥檚 list right now. Adding Seth Jones and Brad Marchand for this year鈥檚 playoff drive showed just how driven the Panthers are to try to repeat. Whether as a native Pittsburgher the 60-year-old Zito would aspire to run the Leafs in the same way as an executive who grew up in Canada watching “Hockey Night in Canada” every Saturday night, we鈥檇 have to see.
Pressure is not unique to the 海角社区官网market. But it has grown as the Leafs raised expectations
Rob Blake, a Hall of Fame defenceman, just left the Los Angeles Kings. George McPhee has done brilliant work in Las Vegas. Jim Nill deserves kudos for how he has run the Dallas Stars. Many rumours over the years have connected St. Louis GM Doug Armstrong with the Leafs. Julien Brisebois has done exceptionally well running the show in Tampa Bay since Steve Yzerman moved on to Detroit. Chris Pronger has become increasingly outspoken on social media, and would certainly be a high-profile hire.
Treliving could also be promoted, or given extra duties. And if you want somebody to return to 海角社区官网in triumph, how about Paul Maurice, if he decided it was time to step away from coaching?
The choices really are almost endless. Contractual commitments will make some unavailable. And the bar for success聽鈥 the Cup or nothing聽鈥 is almost unreachable.
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