The Toronto Maple Leafs' parent company announced it will not renew the contract of team president and alternate governor, Brendan Shanahan.
The decision comes after the Maple Leafs lost in the second round to the Florida Panthers despite having a 2-0 lead in the series. Shanahan was with the Leafs since the 2014-15 season. Shanahan oversaw all of the team's operations as it made the post-season for nine straight years, but the Leafs won only two playoff rounds in that span.
“Over the past 11 seasons, Brendan Shanahan has made countless contributions to the Toronto Maple Leafs on the ice, off the ice and in the community,” Maple Leafs Sports and Entertainment president-CEO Keith Pelley said in a news release. “Brendan is one of the most respected leaders in the game, and he has instilled many of the traits that were the signature of his Hall of Fame career throughout the organization, uniting this storied franchise in the ‘Honor, Pride and Courage’ that it was founded on.”
Pelley said a new voice is needed to take the team to the next level.
Shanahan, meanwhile, released a statement after learning today of MLSE's decision.
"Toronto is where I was born and raised, where my family still lives, and being a part of this historic franchise will always be one of the greatest honors of my life," Shanahan said. "I want to thank the entire Maple Leafs’ staff for their commitment and hard work over the years - they are second to none in the National Hockey League. I want to thank the Alumni for all of their support and the tremendous work they do at our games and within the community. Many of them were my heroes growing up, and it has been a pleasure to get to know them on a personal level."
Shanahan also thanked Leafs fans for their passion and loyalty and the players for their commitment while reflecting on the job done.
"While I am proud of the rebuild we embarked on starting in 2014, ultimately, I came here to help win the Stanley Cup, and we did not," Shanahan said. "There is nothing more I wanted to deliver to our fans, and my biggest regret is that we could not finish the job."
On Wednesday, a Sportsnet report said MLSE granted the New York Islanders permission to speak to Shanahan about an opening on their squad.
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After failing to earn an NHL call-up for the first time in three seasons, Belleville Senators defenceman Filip Roos appears to have put his NHL dreams on hold—for now. Färjestad BK of the SHL recently announced that they've signed Roos to a two-year contract.
Roos played 68 games for AHL Belleville this season, hoping to catch Ottawa's attention. He recorded 17 assists over those 68 games, but the Sens never came calling. With unrestricted free agency now looming, the 6-foot-4, 200-pound Swedish defenceman has opted to begin a new chapter back home.
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"I'm really looking forward to it. It's still been a good season (in Belleville), but it'll be fun to come home and start with a new team, which I'm really excited about," Roos said on his new team's website.
Roos' arrival in the NHL is similar to Finnish defenceman Nikolas Matinpalo. Both 26, the two undrafted defencemen played pro hockey in their home countries for several seasons before NHL opportunities came their way.
But Matinpalo is a right shot and Roos is a lefty. Matinpalo got a chance in Ottawa this season after the right side of their blue line had trouble staying healthy.
Roos broke into the NHL in his first season in North America (2022–23), appearing in 17 games for the Chicago Blackhawks. The following season, he played just four NHL games for the Hawks before signing a one-year, two-way contract with Ottawa last summer.
At the time, after the Sens parted company with left-handers Jakob Chychrun and Erik Brannstrom, Roos and his agent probably saw an opportunity here.
But unlike the injury wreckage on the right side, Senator lefties Jake Sanderson, Thomas Chabot, and Tyler Kleven missed only seven games this season combined, so there weren't many opportunities.
Färjestad BK is thrilled that Roos is coming home.
"We have had our eyes on Filip for a long time and we believe that he, with his qualities, will strengthen our defense in a good way," Färjestad BK general manager Rickard Wallin said in a club statement.
Steve Warne
The Hockey News - Ottawa
(Image credit: Belleville Senators//Freestyle Photography
Barring an overwhelming trade offer, the Philadelphia Flyers figure to stay at the No. 6 overall position in the upcoming NHL draft, poised to select a promising center.
Matthew Schaefer, a defenseman known for his dominating play at both ends of the ice, is the consensus best player in the draft.
Keith Jones, the Flyers' president, believes the players ranked "two through eight or nine" are similar in ability, which means his club should get someone to energize their rebuild.
That player will probably be a center, based on GM Daniel Briere's strong hints.
Most draft experts rank OHL center Michael Misa at No. 2 overall. But he isn't a lock to get picked at No. 2, per experts, who have the top five centers closely ranked.
Misa, James Hagens, Jake O'Brien, Anton Frondell and Caleb Desnoyers are generally regarded as the five best centers. Roger McQueen and Brady Martin are also highly talented centers who could be in the top 10.
The first round of the draft will be held June 27, and Jones believes the Flyers are in a solid spot at No. 6.
"We're sitting in a good position, to be honest with you," he said last week when asked if he expected the Flyers to move up in the draft via a trade. "There's a lot of players who are going to be very good players, but they're in kind of the same group – and sixth doesn't take us out of those six good players."
It's likely Schaefer (defenseman), Misa (center) and right winger Porter Martone will be off the board by the time the Flyers select. That means two of the big five centers could be available for the Flyers at No. 6. And if defenseman Jackson Smith goes before No. 6, the Flyers might have another quality center to choose from.
Finding an elite center is the Flyers' biggest need.
"We're open for anything," Jones said. "There's a couple specific players that we would love to have."
The Flyers have three picks in Round 1 – No. 6, No. 22, and a still-to-be-determined slot based on Edmonton's finish – and four in Round 2.
"It's a good top of the draft, and it's actually good quality throughout the draft, so we're really pumped up that we have so many picks this year – and it's going to continue to build that foundation," Jones said. "And at some point, we'll shift some of those prospects and picks and assets that can help us in acquiring other players as we try to advance this thing."
Whether that happens this year or down the road is unknown, but the Flyers – who have missed the playoffs in each of the last five seasons – are building for the future.
Like Jones, Briere said the Flyers are "comfortable" at having the No. 6 pick. (They had been at No. 4 but dropped two spots in the draft lottery.)
"We'll be prepared for all of it. It's a little easier" this year, he said. "Last year (when they drafted speedy center Jett Luchanko at No. 13 overall), we were preparing for the first half of the first round. Now we can narrow it a little bit more. We're comfortable there, but we're going to explore with different things – moving up, moving back."
If they stay at No. 6, as expected, will the Flyers draft the top player available or go for a specific position?
"At the top, we'll go with the best player, but it just so happens there are a lot of centers in that range," Briere said. "But if someone fell who is not a center, we're going to go with the best player."
The Flyers have had the No. 6 overall pick three other times in franchise history, drafting a dud (right winger Bob Currier in 1969), a quality defenseman (Behn Wilson in 1978) and a superstar – center Peter Forsberg, who was selected in 1991 and traded in the Eric Lindros deal.
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The Philadelphia Flyers are going to be forced to find some goalie reinforcements this offseason, and one underrated option is former Colorado Avalanche goalie Ivan Prosvetov.
Prosvetov, 26, will terminate his contract with KHL outfit CSKA Moskva, according to multiple reports, including from Hockey News Hub, with the intent of resuming his NHL career this upcoming season.
Prosvetov, who last played in the NHL for the Colorado Avalanche in the 2023-24 season, was signed by CSKA to replace the departed Ivan Fedotov, who just completed his first full NHL season with the Flyers. That marriage did not last very long at all as CSKA continues to fall from its former glory in the KHL.
So, what makes the former fourth-round pick an attractive sleeper option for the Flyers?
In parts of five seasons at the NHL level, Prosvetov managed only an 8-9-2 record in 24 appearances to go along with a bog-standard 3.70 GAA and .881 save percentage.
At the same time, though, he played for the Arizona Coyotes and the Avalanche - two teams that have changed goalies like underwear for the majority of the last decade.
Prosvetov alluded to such roster turnover and difficulties with the Avalanche's goalie coach, in particular, in a Dec. 2024 interview with Pavel Lysenkov of MatchTV.
"Honestly, in Colorado, I played the same system as now. There were good matches for the Avalanche, but there the coach did not understand me. It’s as if we talked to him in different languages," Prosvetov told Lysenkov. "All the goalkeepers were removed. For a year now, no goalkeeper can play. Who appeared there after Semyon Varlamov? No one was late there for a long time."
The Avalanche started the 2024-25 season with a tandem of Alexandar Georgiev and Justus Annunen, but both goalkeepers were quickly jettisoned for Mackenzie Blackwood and Scott Wedgewood as Colorado's front office scrambled to find reliable options to buoy their Stanley Cup hopes.
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However, the Avalanche previously won the Stanley Cup with Darcy Kuemper, who left the organization as quickly as he arrived.
"They won the Stanley Cup with Darcy Kuemper at the gate, but he also went off-season to Washington. Quickly with him in Colorado said goodbye," Prosvetov noted. "And I don’t think that because of the money they broke up with the goalkeeper, who led the club to the first champion title in 20 years."
As for Georgiev? And for himself?
"Georgiev was good when he was given 10 shots per match, and when they did it 40 times. That is, he is very strong in the head. His mentality is strong. He's a very confident person. But as I know, the coaches in Colorado did not help him at all. So, the goalkeeper coach definitely did nothing.
"Well, if the coach never played hockey how [can you understand]? A complete theorist, and in theory he has gaps (...) But in the end I sat for 10 matches in reserve. And then I was thrown in against Florida, changed after three goals although the score was 3-3. Can you imagine? Why wasn't Sergei Bobrovsky pulled on the other side? Why have I been replaced?
"And that was my last NHL match. I do not know who made that decision. And there, head coach Jared Bednar, too, as I understand it, affects goalies. Decides who to play in which match, and thinks that he understands this topic."
And that is how Prosvetov arrived back home in Russia, playing one (his first) KHL season. In 38 games, the 6-foot-5 goalie posted a 20-16-2 record, a 2.32 GAA, a .920 save percentage, and four shutouts. In five playoff games, Prosvetov was 2-3-0 with a 2.90 GAA and .918 save percentage as CSKA was thrashed 13-2 across their final two games.
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The Flyers, like the Avalanche, have struggled to find a consistent goalie. It's unclear if or when Aleksei Kolosov returns, and Sam Ersson and Fedotov have proven unreliable.
Flyers goalie coach Kim Dillabaugh is now squarely in the sights of fans now that disliked power play coach Rocky Thompson has been relieved of his duties, which could also be a challenge for Prosvetov, given Dillabaugh's inability to regularly coax strong performances out of Fedotov and Kolosov.
But, even if the Flyers decide Prosvetov is not suitable for a role at the NHL level, the Russian would still be an upgrade for the AHL squad.
In parts of five seasons in the AHL, Prosvetov was 65-61-13 with a 3.16 GAA, a .898 save percentage, and six shutouts. During his brief stint with the AHL Colorado Eagles in 2023-24, Prosvetov was 11-7-2 with a 2.33 GAA, a .921 save percentage, and two shutouts.
The only Lehigh Valley Phantoms goalie to post a save percentage higher than .899 this season was Army veteran Parker Gahagen (.916), who isn't even signed to an NHL contract. Eetu Makiniemi was limited to five games with a hernia, and Cal Petersen and Kolosov are likely gone this summer.
That leaves Gahagen and 19-year-old goalie prospect Carson Bjarnason to hold down the fort. If something happens to Ersson or Fedotov or if they struggle, you'd probably want to have a better Plan C if you're the Flyers.
Prosvetov is more than likely not going to cost a lot financially and is willing to stick it out in the AHL for an NHL role if necessary. It's now a question of if the Flyers feel they have better options on the table with the same roster flexibility.