The Brendan Shanahan era is officially over

On Thursday, MLSE announced that they wouldn’t be renewing the Hall of Famer’s contract. Shanahan spent 11 years as team president and alternate governor.

Carter Hutton subbed in for Jay Rosehill as co-host on the Friday edition of Leafs Morning Take. We kicked off the show by discussing Denmark’s upset of Canada on home soil at the World Championships with Kyle Dubas at the helm. That Canadian team was stacked. This was a massive upset. Speaking of which, Florida smoked Carolina 5-0 to take a 2-0 series lead. After winning the first two games on the road, it really feels like the Panthers have a chance to sweep the series with the next two games taking place at Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise.

Then, brought to you by RVezy, we broke down Thursday’s big news. Neither of us were surprised by the news. It was evident that once the Leaf gave the Islanders permission to speak to Shanahan that they were likely moving on. And that’s exactly what came to fruition. Interestingly, the Leafs won’t be replacing the position. Brad Treliving retains his role as general manager and will report right to MLSE CEO Keith Pelley. All in all, this was the right decision to move on from Shanahan. Afterall, he managed to win just two playoff series during his tenure. That said, it’s important to bring up all the excellent things he did off the ice. From introducing legends row to mending plenty of the organization’s relationships with the alumni association, Shanahan brought a lot of the stability. He should be commended for that.

Courtesy of GRETA BAR YYZ, TSN Hockey Insider Darren Dreger stopped by the show. We covered a lot of different topics. We started by getting some clarity on the trade deadline and what went down in trade talks on Mikko Rantanen with the Carolina Hurricanes. Additionally, Dregs dished on Shanahan’s exit, Mitch Marner’s status and what he thinks will happen with John Tavares. Lastly, we even broached him on the summer of 2026 —when Connor McDavid could become an unrestricted free agent.

For the CRISPI HOT TAKE OF THE DAY, presented by the Ninja Crispi 4-in-1 Portable Glass Air Fryer, Producer Vick whipped up another spicy hot take despite being under the weather. He thinks that like Jonathan Huberdeau, Mitch Marner was in a perfect situation. Like Huberdeau, Marner won’t be the same player on a different team.

At any rate, we’re taking Monday off. We’ll be back Tuesday at 11 AM ET.

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