That’s a lot of severance pay.
Firing all those hockey people, as Brendan Shanahan did, was the latest indication that while MLSE has shown little or no evidence it understands how to build a hockey winner, it’s more than willing to put its wallet behind the effort.
First it swallowed Nathan Horton’s contract, understanding all that mattered was moving David Clarkson. Now, the entire hockey office has been flattened, a departure from practices of the previous 25 years when a new hockey boss would arrive, move a body or two, and then absorb those from previous regimes into the organization.
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Sometimes it was about new GMs liking the people they found. Sometimes it was about ownership insisting certain individuals would survive.
The result was that there were always people hanging around doing a job who had been hired two or three regimes ago.
Even in this case, chief scout Dave Morrison, hired by John Ferguson Jr., will stay on, as will Steve Staios, hired before Shanahan arrived. But everyone else is gone, and we’ll see what Shanahan, Mark Hunter and Kyle Dubas have in mind for the minor league operation. Nobody would be surprised if Soo Greyhounds coach Sheldon Keefe finds his way into the organization.
So far, this is already the biggest bloodletting I’ve witnessed with the Leafs over 26 years of covering the club, perhaps something that should have been anticipated when CEO Tim Leiweke arrived and immediately started talking about taking old pictures off the wall.
This is change on an epic scale. Shanahan was going to wait until today, but woke up Sunday morning, knew what he had to do, and got on with the difficult task.
Given the nature of the organization’s failures over the past decade, who can say it’s a bad thing?
Other Weekend Takeaways
Gotta Be The Right Fit: The Leafs will have an interesting time finding a GM willing to take a job with Hunter and Dubas already in place. The Leafs have embraced analytics in a big way, and the new GM will have to be willing to do that, as well. It would appear the Leafs are going more to a model like Calgary and Columbus, with a president intimately involved in the hockey operation like Brian Burke and John Davidson, and with a GM with reduced powers from what has been traditionally the case. Colorado is like this as well. It’s a group approach, versus a one man decides all approach.
Lots of Good, Too Much Bad: There’s not enough room here to dissect all that went on with Dave Nonis as Leaf GM. Too many want to boil it all down to one or two things, like signing David Clarkson. Fact is, Nonis didn’t really want the job when it was thrust upon him, and did his best to change the tone in the organization after the Brian Burke years. He ended the Leaf practice of dumping first round picks and leaves his predecessor with some good (not great) young talent to work with. Whether it could have worked over time, nobody knows. But you can’t say he had enough time to prove himself one way or another. He’s the latest in a long line of Leaf executives who learned five-year plans don’t apply in a city where you get two years or less to convince the crowd. Shanahan is already learning that. He’s been around one year, and already the critics are circling. You just don’t get much time in T.O., folks.
Not Quick Enough Off the Draw: Somebody had to be first to fire their coach, and Shanahan beat Tim Murray to the punch. Ted Nolan’s days in Buffalo were ticking down weeks ago. Most understood he and Murray were anything but on the same page. Hall of Fame centre Bryan Trottier also lost his job, along with Nolan. Hard to believe it was only 17 months ago that in a big splash, Sabres owner Terry Pegula brought in Nolan and Pat LaFontaine to revitalize the Sabres. LaFontaine lasted weeks, Nolan months. The Sabres have deteriorated under Pegula’s ownership, and now that he owns the NFL Bills, we’ll see if his attention span for all things hockey is limited.
Itching to Spend: Pegula is just one of several owners with all kinds of cash likely looking for a coach. Along with the Sabres, the Leafs and possibly the Oilers (Daryl Katz) have deep pockets and may want to bring in a big-name bench boss. At least the Leafs let Peter Horachek know he wouldn’t be coming back. Edmonton GM Craig MacTavish won’t take the interim tag off Todd Nelson just yet, but he won’t fire him, either. Nelson just has to sit around and wait to see if MacTavish finds somebody he likes better.
Big Gun Set To Return: Amazing news that Chicago’s Patrick Kane may be available for Game 1 against Nashville. Kane suffered a broken clavicle Feb. 24, but was cleared for contact on the weekend.
The Sound of Crickets: It was nine days ago when it was revealed notorious former Toronto maybe Rob Ford had been appointed to the board of directors of the Hockey Hall of Fame. Since then, not a peep of objection from anyone involved with the secretive institution or any honoured members. Apparently, Ford and the HHOF are well matched and deserve one another.
Why Stop Now?: While the blood was flowing in Toronto and Buffalo, Jaromir Jagr signed a new one year, $3.5 million contract on Sunday with the Florida Panthers at age 43. Jagr had six goals and 12 assists in 20 games as a Panther and is showing absolutely no sign of retiring.
Ripping it Up Out East: Look at those Halifax Mooseheads go. Specifically, winger Timo Meier, destined to go in the top 10 at the June NHL draft in Florida, has seven goals in nine playoff games. Teammate Nik Ehlers has 22 points in nine playoff games, comparable to the 21 points in eight games Connor McDavid has with Erie. Ehlers might join the Winnipeg Jets for the Stanley Cup playoffs, but then again, the Mooseheads may be playing for a while. Guelph Storm centre Robbi Fabbri, on the other hand, could join St. Louis in a matter of days with the defending OHL champs down 0-3 to Sault Ste. Marie. Fabbri almost made the Blues in training camp.
Pioneer From the Holy Land: David Levin moved from Israel to Toronto at the age of 12 having mostly played roller hockey. Just three years later, he was the No. 1 pick in the OHL priority draft on Saturday, going to the Sudbury Wolves. The Don Mills winger had 39 goals in 55 games this season.
Just in Case: With Travis Hamonic on the limp, the Islanders have recalled former first rounder Griffin Reinhart, 21, from the minors. Reinhart played eight games this season. Long Island has done a nice job bringing the former fourth overall pick along, leaving him in junior last season to win a Memorial Cup with Edmonton and now giving him a full development season in Bridgeport. The Islanders are an organization that has learned time in the minors is a good thing, not an insult.
Goaltending mystery: The Anaheim Ducks called up well-travelled Jason Labarbera on the weekend, apparently due to an injury to netminder John Gibson. Once again, the Ducks go into a post-season with a great record and all kinds of questions about their netminding.
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Shark Infested Waters: It will be interesting to see who survives the playoff miss in San Jose, the club’s first since 2003. The guessing so far seems to be that GM Doug Wilson is safe. Head coach Todd MacLellan didn’t see eye-to-eye with Wilson at times this season, notably on whether to make Joe Pavelski the new team captain. If MacLellan hits the open market, it will be a matter of days before he is snapped up. He has one year left on his deal, so the Sharks may have to extend him now or let him go. Interestingly, if Wilson were to be fired, MacLellan has a clause in his contract that gives him the option to be a free agent immediately.
Transparency Is Everything: With conspiracy theories about the upcoming NHL draft lottery already been circulated, the NHL will go out of its way to demonstrate everything is on the up-and-up. To that end, the lottery process will be recorded on Saturday, and later made available online for one and all to see. Of course, those who believe we never actually landed on the moon won’t be convinced.
Filling the Void: Dallas was Toronto West this season, scoring tons of goals and failing to keep many out of its own net. Goalie Kari Lehtonen had a fairly miserable season, and there’s speculation that rather than keep him for the next three years of his hefty contract, the Stars might consider buying him out to the tune of a $1.87 million cap hit over six years. That might be a hasty decision. Then again, many teams saw the Kings not buy out Mike Richards last summer, and then pay a price for that decision.
Jersey Boys Looking For Change: There will be a new head coach with the Devils next season, with GM Lou Lamoriello confirming he won’t be back behind the bench despite the fact the team had an improved record after he, along with assistants Adam Oates and Scott Stevens, took over from the fired Peter DeBoer. It’s not clear whether Oates or Stevens will get the head coaching position. Also open for speculation is the future of former Jersey goalie Martin Brodeur, who is with the Blues for the playoffs but will meet with Lamoriello this summer to discuss a possible position with the Devils organization.