Toronto Maple Leafs president Brendan Shanahan promised that his team would consider changing everything but going into the fall, it appears that he’s received a vote of no confidence from the fan base and the general public alike.
The Athletic asked 10,000 fans and 250 neutral observers to rank each team’s front office and whether you’re partisan to the Maple Leafs or not, it’s clear the management group — and perhaps the extant remains of Kyle Dubas’ tenure — are being evaluated with an earned, cynical fury.
Toronto ranked 30th out of 32 teams — only the Los Angeles Kings and New York Islanders inspired less confidence from its fan bases and the general viewing populous. And perhaps it’s not entirely on Brad Treliving!
It was an overall poor report card for the Maple Leafs but the team finished dead last in cap management in the fan vote, an area where Dubas struggled badly. Toronto also finished 27th in cap management through the public tally.
Most fans in the Toronto market weren’t thrilled by the player-friendly contracts the team issued to Mitch Marner, John Tavares, Auston Matthews and William Nylander, while many neutral observes believe Toronto’s top-heavy scheme has created real, exploitable weaknesses throughout the rest of the roster. It’s not entirely on Dubas, as this is Treliving’s second summer with the Maple Leafs, but signing Ryan Reaves to a three-year contract or John Klingberg’s disastrous one-year stint is still top of mind for most supporters.
For some fans, eight consecutive early playoff exits have led to vitriol, or apathy, but Shanahan is the commonality between two different management regimes, three head coaches and the same core forwards. If the Maple Leafs cannot go on an extended run under Craig Berube’s supervision, the Shanaplan may finally come to an end.
It’s definitely worth checking out the rest of The Athletic’s rankings, where the Maple Leafs are behind the curve in every measurable category.
