Trades incoming? Leafs president Shanahan says team will "consider everything"
You might’ve heard this before, but the Toronto Maple Leafs are looking to change things up after a disappointing season.
Speaking to the media one day after head coach Sheldon Keefe was fired, Toronto president Brendan Shanahan talked about the need for change in Toronto, alluding to possible major trades.
And while former Leafs general manager Kyle Dubas once stuck his trust in his “core four” forwards with an infamous proclamation that “we can and we will” keep all of them in the long term, Shanahan is singing a different tune.
“We’ll look at everything this summer,” Shanahan said in his opening remarks on Friday. “And we will consider everything this summer. All with the intention of the one thing that we are here for, which is to make the Maple Leafs better and to win.”
Toronto fell in Game 7 to Boston in the first round of the playoffs, the seventh time in the last eight seasons the team failed to win a playoff series.
“The results that we’ve had in the playoffs — our players know, we know, I know,” Shanahan added. “They’re unacceptable. They’re unacceptable to our fans. And they’re unacceptable to all those that support the Toronto Maple Leafs.”
Shanahan’s sentiments echo those of the team’s recently departed head coach.
“I didn’t get it done in the playoffs. I didn’t help push our team over the line and deliver,” Keefe said in a video posted on X on Thursday. “I accept responsibility for that. No excuses. That’s the job. I didn’t get it done. It’s the reality of the business, and I accept it.”
Two of the players that have received notable intrigue about their future with the franchise are John Tavares and Mitch Marner, who each have just one season left on their contracts. Tavares is signed at a cap hit of $11 million, while Marner has a cap hit of $10.93 million. Both have full no-movement clauses, which means they’d be able to veto any trade destination they weren’t interested in. Shanahan didn’t directly comment on their situations when asked, calling any talk “premature” out of respect for the players.
“I still believe that there are times where patience is the suitable call. However, when you see patterns persist, and the results don’t change, you have to adjust the way that you think about things,” Shanahan added.
- You might also like:
- "You deserve the Stanley Cup": Keefe delivers goodbye message to Leafs