Expect more 'hard change' as off-season unfolds for Maple Leafs
'I think we made strides this year, but it is now time for us to take it to another level.'
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Change is hard, Keith Pelley said on Friday afternoon.
The CEO and president of MLSE said it more than once during a news conference at Scotiabank Arena.
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Expect more 'hard change' as off-season unfolds for Maple Leafs Back to video
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With the Maple Leafs, the first significant piece of change came on Thursday, when Pelley told Brendan Shanahan during a mid-afternoon conversation that his services would no longer be required.
There is no plan to replace Shanahan in the role of Leafs president, Pelley said. Rather, Pelley plans to work more closely with general manager Brad Treliving and coach Craig Berube, who both got several votes of confidence from Pelley on Friday.
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Pelley has removed the architect of the Leafs, Shanahan, after 11 years of an on-ice product that initially improved but has stalled once the playoffs get started.
Failure to win with Shanahan in charge ensured that he was not going to get another chance once his contract expired at the end of June.
Treliving, who is expected to hold a media availability early next week after attending his daughter’s graduation in Calgary this weekend, is on firm ground. The same goes for Berube.
What about the players, then? Can the Leafs continue with Mitch Marner and John Tavares and expect to win championships?
In Marner’s case, it might not matter whether the Leafs think they can win with him. If the player decides to go to free agency — and many think he will — the Leafs will have had more than enough time to convince him to stay. Tavares again was adamant about a desire to return, while Marner was not, on Tuesday when the Leafs scrummed with media following team exit meetings.
With the Leafs’ top two unrestricted free agents in mind, does the team require an element of roster turnover to get to a point where it can win a Stanley Cup?
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“I think that’s not a question for today,” Pelley said. “I think that’s a question for Brad Treliving and it’s a question for Brad, and perhaps myself, after we have spent significant time together.
“I’m not here to talk about individual details on players or such. I’m only talking about a grandiose, holistic plan of ‘we want to win championships.’ If that’s what’s needed and change is needed, then we will make that. We’ve made a lot of change over the last year in this team and we’ve made a lot of progress.
“Further change will probably be needed to get us to the next level. And yesterday was the first step in that direction.”
Yes, there will have to be changes on the roster if the Leafs want to start making significant runs in the post-season and give themselves the best chance of ending the 58-year Cup drought.
Once Pelley was done on the podium, he was asked specifically about Marner during a scrum with reporters.
“He’s one of the most prolific scorers that we’ve ever had,” Pelley said. “I haven’t had the privilege of watching his magic over the last number of years, only the last year. We’ll see what happens with Mitch Marner in the weeks ahead.”
How about Games 5 and 7 against the Florida Panthers? Before and after the Leafs’ gutsy road victory in Game 6 of the second round, the Leafs played what might have been their two worst home games, considering the significance of each, in the Shanahan era.
For Pelley, did those losses raise questions about how the team is built? He didn’t say.
“I think Game 5 and Game 7 were very difficult games, we all know that,” Pelley said. “I think we’ve made strides. Florida is a very good hockey team. We’re seeing that this week as well against Carolina, (which) is also a very good hockey team. I think we made strides this year, but it is now time for us to take it to another level.”
Off the ice, Shanahan had the funds to build a massive hockey department, one that seemingly had all of the bases covered. Will there be changes made in the front office in the way of cuts? With Rogers in the midst of becoming majority owner of the Leafs, it would not be a surprise.
“I haven’t really looked at it as forensically as I might now,” Pelley said. “I’m not worried about the size of the department or any of that. What I’m most concerned with — concern is probably the wrong word — is are those resources being put in the right areas?”
Pelley said the Leafs “have to be on the pathway to win the Stanley Cup” for success to be measured moving forward and added this: “Make no mistake about it, making the playoffs and winning rounds is not our aspirational goal. Our goal is to win the Stanley Cup.”
As is should be. No revelation there.
The president is gone and won’t be replaced. The GM and coach are cemented in their positions.
That leaves the players, the core of which was constructed under Shanahan.
More hard change with the Leafs is required.
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