When the Toronto Maple Leafs cut ties with president Brendan Shanahan after last season, there was always a sense that it wouldn’t be long before he was back working in the NHL in one shape or form.
When TSN's Darren Dreger reported Shanahan was rejoining the NHL's hockey operations department, it wasn’t exactly a surprise.
But it may not be very long until Shanahan gets another shot at running an NHL team.
Sportsnet’s Nick Kypreos listed the Buffalo Sabres, Chicago Blackhawks and Nashville Predators as teams that may be looking for an executive to help them turn the corner from being out of the Stanley Cup playoff mix year in and year out.
If Shanahan showed one thing in his lengthy tenure with the Maple Leafs, it’s that he can build a team that consistently makes the playoffs by bringing in experienced staff, finishing a rebuild and adding effective pieces around their core. A current sad-sack team like the Sabres and Blackhawks should be ecstatic to hand the reins over to Shanahan.
The Sabres have the makings of a strong core with Tage Thompson, Rasmus Dahlin, Owen Power and Alex Tuch if they re-sign him, but NHL fans know well how badly they have struggled at transitioning out of a rebuild and stepping into the playoffs.
Chicago, meanwhile, is still in the thick of a rebuilding stage and drafted Connor Bedard, Frank Nazar, Artyom Levshunov, Sam Rinzel and Alex Vlasic. In net, they acquired Spencer Knight, who has elite potential. The supporting cast hasn't always successfully helped those young guys on the ice, however, and Shanahan could help ensure the right pieces are in place.
As for the Predators, which have first-time GM Barry Trotz running hockey operations and David Poile staying on as a senior advisor, Shanahan could provide more support to Trotz as the team tries to rebound from a disappointing 2024-25 campaign. Filip Forsberg, Steven Stamkos, Jonathan Marchessault, Ryan O'Reilly, Roman Josi, Brady Skjei and Juuse Saros are all in their 30s, and they're not playing like a playoff team, so Shanahan could guide this squad either through a rebuild or through a rejuvenating retool.
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When Shanahan joined the Maple Leafs in 2014-15, the team had made the playoffs only once in the previous nine years. In his 11 years there, Shanahan helped steer Toronto to the post-season nine times, or eight times if you don't include the play-in round loss in 2020.
Now, playoff success was much more difficult for Shanahan’s Leafs to come by. But that was true early in Shanahan’s career as an NHL player with the New Jersey Devils and St. Louis Blues, and he eventually managed to figure things out and win three Stanley Cup championships with the Detroit Red Wings. And clearly, there’s a possibility the same will be true for Shanahan as a hockey executive.
There’s no doubt Shanahan’s current role with the NHL is a pit stop. NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly even suggested the same to Postmedia. And the lessons he learned in Leafs Land could serve Shanahan very well as he tries to get back into the winner’s circle.
Shanahan is a Hockey Hall of Famer because he was one of the best competitors the game has ever seen. And the motivation to succeed is the fuel for him to demonstrate that he’s now a stronger, wiser hockey man than the one who left his Leafs job.
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