Shanahan leaving Toronto Maple Leafs? He's already speaking to another team

Is Brendan Shanahan’s time with the Toronto Maple Leafs coming to an end?

It certainly looks that way.

The New York Islanders have been granted permission by the Leafs to speak with Shanahan, per a report from Sportsnet. It would be an unusual move to make for Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment unless the organization were planning to move on from Shanahan, who has been the team’s president for the past 11 years.

MLSE’s board of directors is meeting on Thursday to discuss the future of the team, according to a report from Chris Johnston of The Athletic. Making the Eastern Conference Final was the benchmark that ownership had set this season, Johnston adds.

The Leafs did not meet that bar, of course. While Toronto came up just one win short of making the conference final for the first time since 2002, the way they lost surely will result in big changes this offseason.

The Leafs blew a 2-0 series lead to the Florida Panthers and got blown out in consecutive home games to end the series. The scenes in Game 7 — fans booing, leaving early, and tossing jerseys on the ice in disgust — surely caught the attention of ownership.

Shanahan’s contract expires at the end of June, while Mitch Marner and John Tavares could leave the team in free agency beginning July 1.

The Leafs have been a playoff team in nine straight years under Shanahan, something the team hasn’t done since the 1960s. The difference with today’s team is that it hasn’t come with much postseason success.

Toronto has made the second round just twice in nine years and came up short repeatedly in big games. The Leafs have played six Game 7s during the Shanahan era and lost every one of them.

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