The Corner Office: Maple Leafs thoughts on Brendan Shanahan, Mitch Marner and pressure in Toronto
A few weeks before the COVID pandemic in 2020, I was hosting a fireside chat event with Brendan Shanahan at a corporate sponsors dinner inside the Royal York Hotel.
The Maple Leafs president was pretty forthcoming in answering questions from both the audience and myself.
Someone had asked what the plan would be if the Leafs had another playoff disappointment that spring after the last two seasons ended with first-round Game 7 losses to the Boston Bruins.
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Shanahan's response was something along the lines of, 'I know it's not the sexy answer or the answer you want to hear, but we believe in what we are doing, we believe in our process and we go back at it again next year.'
Little did everyone in the building know that the next six seasons would end in playoff disappointments.
This time it cost Shanahan his job.
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Leafs took risk in 2015 draft
Another story Shanahan shared at that 2020 event was about the Leafs being 'fortunate' to draft Mitch Marner fourth overall in the 2015 NHL draft.
The Leafs had received a last-minute call from the Arizona Coyotes, who were picking third that year. The Coyotes knew that Toronto coveted Marner and told the Leafs their plan was to take him. The Coyotes, however, offered the Leafs the opportunity to trade up to third.
'We stuck to our guns, but it was a tense table for the next few minutes as we held our collective breaths,' Shanahan recounted. 'When Arizona announced they were taking Dylan Strome, our table had a collective exhale.'
For what it's worth, Marner has 741 career NHL points compared to Strome's 384 and it worked out nicely for the Leafs. But, 10 years later, it's clear the long-term gamble they kept taking on the same nucleus of players did not.
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And there's a good chance Marner will be exiting the Leafs just as the Shanaplan era comes to an end.
Talk of pressure is laughable
St. Louis Blues president and GM Doug Armstrong told me years ago that he considered getting out of the first round of the playoffs and down to the final eight NHL teams to be a successful season.
Using that barometer, Leafs GM Brad Treliving could call his second year in Toronto a success, but we all know that isn't the vibe in Leafs Nation. Nor should it be considering the team's playoff history and the way they went out against the Florida Panthers.
Since the Leafs last advanced past the second round in 2002, 29 of the 32 NHL teams have reached a conference final at least once. The Columbus Blue Jackets and Seattle Kraken, who joined the NHL in 2021, are the other teams who haven't.
The notion that all the pressure, distractions and white noise from the Toronto fans and media inhibit the Leafs' chances for playoff success is laughable. To their credit, I didn't hear that come from within the Leafs organization at the end-of-season interviews.
Prior to this 23-year drought, the Leafs had made it to the conference final four times in 10 years in the Pat Burns (1993 and 1994) and Pat Quinn (1999 and 2002) eras. The likes of Doug Gilmour, Wendel Clark, Mats Sundin, Gary Roberts, Darcy Tucker and Curtis Joseph embraced and thrived during those highly-charged playoff runs — and I don't remember anyone blaming the fans or the media when they came to an end.
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Like Sgt. Joe Friday used to say on the old 'Dragnet' TV show: 'Just the facts Ma'am!' The facts are it's Maple Leafs fans who have had their patience constantly tested as they deal with far too many playoff disappointments and the longest Stanley Cup drought in NHL history.
Could Golden Knights pursue Marner?
The disappointing second-round exit by the Leafs has masked a bitter second-round exit for the Vegas Golden Knights.
Leafs
Opinion
Bruce Arthur: Brendan Shanahan had plenty of success with the Leafs, but not enough to overcome one significant failure
The Leafs president put too much stock in his stars and the stubborn belief they could bring Toronto a Stanley Cup.
Leafs
Opinion
Bruce Arthur: Brendan Shanahan had plenty of success with the Leafs, but not enough to overcome one significant failure
The Leafs president put too much stock in his stars and the stubborn belief they could bring Toronto a Stanley Cup.
Vegas is anything but pleased with its loss to the Edmonton Oilers in five games. The veteran team that won the Stanley Cup just two years ago now has quickly become an older group. Mark Stone (33 years old), Tomáš Hertl (31), Alex Pietrangelo (35), William Karlsson (32), Tanner Pearson (33), Brayden McNabb (34) and Reilly Smith (34) will likely not all be back together as the team needs to add more youth.
Golden Knights owner Bill Foley is impatient and demanding, but it has worked. They won a Stanley Cup in only their sixth season of existence. They have hunted big name veterans via trade and free agency in the past like Marc-André Fleury, Jack Eichel, Max Pacioretty, Noah Hanifan, Stone, Hertl and Pietrangelo.
Expect them to be aggressive in their attempts to sign Marner as a free agent.
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