Toronto Maple Leafs President Brendan Shanahan felt there was no reason for concern regarding Auston Matthews flying to Germany to get treatment because it ensures the team is on the cutting edge.
During a rare interview in which he did a one-on-one with TSN’s Gino Reda on Monday, Shanahan touched on several topics surrounding the team he oversees every day and how he feels things are going so far this season. One of them was on Matthews, whose recent injury was shrouded in mystery given it was a ‘day-to-day’ ailment that stretched on for the entire month.
Shanahan said there was nothing out of the ordinary about the whole process regarding the captain’s recovery and they are glad to have him back in the fold.
“First off, people have to understand — and I know our fans will appreciate — that there is a competitive (aspect). People watch TSN and want us to reveal how people are feeling. People have privacy around injuries. Teams do it not because they want to keep secrets but because there is a competitive disadvantage to revealing everything about all of your players all of the time. As far as Auston goes, whether it is him or anybody on our team, we are always going to do everything that we can to give every player every opportunity to get better and feel better. There is nothing really unusual about it. We are glad that he is back. We certainly missed him. He is a big part of our team. He would be the first to say that he was missing it and wanted to get back. As far as helping facilitate some of the relationships he has in the medicine world with different practitioners around the world, we want to be on the cutting edge as well. If we have to help somebody see somebody, we just want to get the player healthy and back on the ice.”
While he didn’t reveal what exactly was bothering Matthews, Shanahan did shed some light on the reality that NHL teams tend to not tip their hand on the root cause of the ailment so that their opposition does not target the affected area. Whether that practice should continue given the frustration fans feel about vague injury descriptions is for another time. At the very least, we have some insight into why little was said throughout November and why the team wasn’t bothered by their captain flying over to Europe during the season to receive treatment.
Shanahan was asked about the change in philosophy for the team’s playstyle and identity this campaign. He explained the process began last season while Sheldon Keefe was still manning the bench and the team is slowly morphing themselves into playing into a better version of himself when he was a player.
“I do think a shift occurred last year with the team. It was a conscious shift by Brad and I. Brad and his staff added some people this offseason, including the coaching change that we made. Look, Sheldon Keefe is a great coach. He is doing a great job in New Jersey. Sometimes, as we see in the NHL—and as we have seen with some recent teams—a new and fresh voice is what is needed. Craig felt like the right coach at the right time. The big shift between this year and previous years is our play on the defensive side. If you really admire what Florida did, they weren’t known as a defensive team. They kind of made a collective decision as a group that they were going to be an outstanding defensive team. It got them a championship. I think players go through different arcs throughout their careers. Sometimes, it is about the individuals you have on the team. Sometimes, it is about the individuals you have collectively coming together and making a decision to be better defensively. I give Craig Berube and his staff a lot of credit for that, but I give our players a lot of credit. There is a long way to go, but so far, with the commitment on the defensive side of the puck and the goaltending we have been getting, knock on wood, we just want to keep getting better at that.”
It is certainly fascinating to hear the president talk openly about his team taking note of what the Panthers have done over the past few years in transforming themselves into a Stanley Cup champion. Florida has certainly set the standard of what it will take to be successful in the postseason, but part of that also included making a bold move to bring in the type of presence that fundamentally altered the identity of the team in Matthew Tkachuk. The Leafs have yet to make that type of move and only time will tell if keeping their nucleus intact was the right call.
Still, the vastly improved defence has been evident throughout this campaign so far. The Leafs are currently among the league leaders in goals against, penalty kill efficiency, and in the major goalie categories. By contrast, the offence has not been up to the usual standard which has been compounded by the bottom-six’s lack of offence but they are likely banking on the dam bursting for the guys mired in lengthy droughts.
With so much riding on how the team does in the playoffs coached by Craig Berube, failing to make a meaningful run in the spring will result in some major changes. One of them could be the departure of Shanahan who is in the final year of his current contract. But he is not focused on where things go and dwelling on his past mistakes with the Leafs; he is just concerned with how he can get the team to be better now.
“With players and with coaches, for good reason, there is focus on their contracts and when their contracts are expiring. If you go into that board room today, in any given year, there are 20-or-so guys who play their contracts out. It is different for management. I am not the story. The focus isn’t on me. I am just going to continue to do the job every day I wake up, whether I am in the first year or the final year of my contract. I am always thinking about what I can do for the Maple Leafs. My commitment from the first day I got here — and my dream — was, “What can I do to help this team?” That is where my focus is now. It is not on the future. It is not on the past. It is on what we can right now to get better, and how can I help?”
You can watch the full interview down below:
