Toronto Maple Leafs part ways with president Brendan Shanahan

The Toronto Maple Leafs announced Thursday they have parted ways with team president Brendan Shanahan after another disappointing playoff ouster.

In a statement, MLSE President & CEO Keith Pelley thanked Shanahan for his contributions to the team over the past 11 seasons, but said that “a new voice was required to take the team to the next level in the years ahead.”

Pelley is scheduled to address the media at Scotiabank Arena at 1 p.m. on Friday to discuss Shanahan’s departure and what comes next.

Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports that general manager Brad Treliving will remain in his role with the team.

The Leafs had plenty of regular-season success with an arsenal of stars – the so-called “Core Four” of Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, John Tavares and William Nylander – under Shanahan, but went just 2-9 in playoff series with a top-heavy salary structure.

Shanahan took over in April 2014 after being poached from the NHL offices by then-MLSE boss Tim Leiweke. The three-time Cup winner as a player tore Toronto’s roster down to the studs following his first 12 months in the role.

He hired head coach Mike Babcock in 2015 before the club bottomed out for the right to select Matthews first overall at the 2016 draft as part of the “Shanaplan” aimed at getting the Leafs on track after years of mismanagement.

The 2013 Hockey Hall of Fame inductee brought in Lou Lamoriello, who selected Shanahan second overall in 1987, as general manager, but then pushed his former mentor aside in 2018 to make way for the up-and-coming Kyle Dubas.

After signing Matthews, Marner, Tavares and Nylander to long-term, big-money deals, the Leafs finally broke through in the playoffs in 2023 after plenty of heartbreak when they defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning to advance for the first time since 2004 before tepidly bowing out to the Panthers.

Shanahan fired Dubas to end a bizarre power struggle and tabbed Brad Treliving as his third full-time GM. Toronto finished third in the Atlantic in 2023-24 – the fifth straight time the club cracked 100 points in a full campaign – but the Leafs fell to the Boston Bruins in the first round in seven games.

Head coach Sheldon Keefe was fired by Toronto after five seasons in charge and that solitary 2023 series win.

Toronto hired Craig Berube last May as Keefe’s replacement, and the 2019 Cup winner with the St. Louis Blues guided his new team to another 100-point season and the organization’s first division title in an 82-game season since 1999-00.

The Leafs opened the 2025 playoffs by topping the Ottawa Senators 4-2 and took the first two contests against Florida in the second round. They were then up 3-1 in Game 3 before allowing the Panthers off the mat with three straight losses, including a stunning 6-1 setback in Game 5.

Toronto picked up a hard-fought 2-0 decision facing elimination on the road to force Game 7 at home, but were again flat in suffering another 6-1 embarrassment at Scotiabank Arena as boos — and some jerseys — rained down on the ice from a disappointed fan base.

Toronto has lost seven straight winner-take-all contests, scoring a solitary goal in five straight Game 7s as its Stanley Cup drought now extends to 58 years.

In a statement, Shanahan called being a part of the Maple Leafs one of the greatest honours of his life while thanking the team and fans for their passion and loyalty.

“While I am proud of the rebuild we embarked on starting in 2014, ultimately, I came here to help win the Stanley Cup, and we did not,” said Shanahan. “There is nothing more I wanted to deliver to our fans, and my biggest regret is that we could not finish the job.”

On Wednesday, the Maple Leafs granted the New York Islanders permission to speak with Shanahan about their front office vacancy.

Files from The Canadian Press and Sportsnet were used in this report