Insider Says Maple Leafs Could Scrap Key Position Inside Organization

Nick Kypreos joined Sportsnet Central after the Toronto Maple Leafs lost Game 7 against the Florida Panthers on Sunday. He said that the organization should be ready to move on from Brendan Shanahan and that his position as the President of Hockey Operations might be eliminated altogether.

When Kypreos was asked why Shanahan should take responsibility for Toronto’s lack of success, Kypreos responded that this was his team.

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He said he doesn’t know when the idea of a President of Hockey Ops started, but “make no mistake, over the course of 10 years, this has been Brendan Shanahan’s team.” Kypreos added:

“He’s the one that hired Kyle Dubas, he’s the one at the end of the day who changed coaches, even earlier, to Babcock and Lou Lamoriello… all of it fell on the watch of Brendan Shanahan. I think there was a level of respect for Brendan over this playing career, to give him an opportunity. He lived it, he won championships in Detroit…”

Now that Shanahan has doubled and tripled down on his plan, Kypreos says that maybe the organization just decides it no longer needs a President of Hockey Operations. He said it will be interesting to see how ownership thinks about the front office’s setup and structure. Keith Pelley is expected to make some big decisions, and removing Shanahan and his position might be among them.

Time For a New Voice at the Top?

Kypreos was adamant that the Leafs realize the status quo hasn’t worked. It’s time to make changes at the top and ensure that the person pulling the strings is no longer able to do so.

As Howard Berger writes, “…no person in the Brendan Shanahan administration has shown the character or courage to pound on a desk and yell “we can’t keep doing this every year!” Instead, amid overwhelming and incontestable evidence of a nucleus without heart, they just keep RUNNING IT BACK — quite frankly, like idiots that have never watched the sport.”

Next: Mitch Marner Meltdown Signals End of Era with Maple Leafs