There it is again, that funny feeling.
If you’re a Toronto Maple Leafs fan that’s old enough, you had it when Punch Imlach was doing Harold Ballard’s dirty work, shuffling Lanny McDonald out of town and antagonizing Darryl Sittler.
You had it on and off but mostly on under Gerry McNamara, and Gord Stellick, and Floyd Smith.
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It went away when Ballard died and Cliff Fletcher arrived, and mostly stayed hidden on the way to the Pat Quinn era. But then it came back with John Ferguson Jr. We thought it was gone when Brian Burke arrived, but it wasn’t, and by the time Dave Nonis was in control, it was almost overwhelming.
And then, under Brendan Shanahan, it went away. Until today.
Leafs fans know the feeling I mean. It’s that sense that this team doesn’t know what it’s doing. That they’re a never-ending source of drama and not the good kind. That they’re a sideshow. That nobody in charge has a firm hand on the wheel, or any kind of real plan.
That other teams get to be smart and well-run and professional. That we just get to be… the Leafs.
To be clear, this is me with my Maple Leafs fan hat on. For now, this isn’t my media hat. And having just watched the same Shanahan press conference that you did, I know what you know. I don’t own an insider hat and never have, so I’ve got nothing for you on that side of things. And it sure feels like there’s something else going on here, right? Something else behind the scenes that’s going unsaid, if maybe hinted at.
I hope so. Because in the nine years that Shanahan has been running the show in Toronto, I got used to not having That Feeling. And today, it came roaring back.
Let’s see if we can summarize. The Maple Leafs went into this year unsure if they wanted to hitch their wagon to Kyle Dubas. That was fair. Dubas is a smart guy and had done a good job as GM. A good job, though – not an impeccable one. And the results, at least in the playoffs, hadn’t been there. He’d done enough to earn some confidence. He hadn’t done enough to be a slam dunk, so having him work through the last year of his deal and then regrouping after the season felt like a reasonable plan.
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Then the season came and went, a lot like all the others: Regular season success, loading up at the deadline, and then playoff disappointment. They won a round, for once, but the enthusiasm of that win faded quickly.
Was it enough for Dubas to keep his job? Maybe. There was a strong case to be made. But again, it wasn’t a lock. Dubas himself didn’t sound sure about whether he even wanted to keep going. When word broke on Friday that a change was being made, it felt like a surprise but not any kind of a jaw-dropping shock.
Shanahan had made his choice. It was time for a new voice. Change had finally come, and it made a certain kind of sense.
And then he started talking. And things got strange.
As Shanahan laid out the timeline that led us here, it became clear that this wasn’t a typical case of a GM failing to meet expectations or even of a team simply deciding it was time for a fresh set of eyes. Instead, it was a twisting saga of decisions being made, and then unmade. Shanahan had seen enough by the trade deadline and wanted Dubas back. After some consideration, Dubas decided he wanted to stay, and his agent got involved. Offers were made. The playoffs came and went, and the disappointment in how they ended didn’t change the plan.
Then came Monday’s media day, and apparently Dubas said something that gave Shanahan second thoughts. His comments about the toll the job had taken on his family felt raw and honest, at least to these ears. To Shanahan’s telling, they sounded like someone having doubts about whether he wanted the job. There were more discussions, maybe more offers being proposed back and forth. Eventually, Dubas made his position clear: He wanted to continue. He was in.
That’s when Shanahan decided, no you’re not.
I guess the charitable intepretation here is that Shanahan needs everyone to be all in. Once it became clear that Dubas wasn't, or was wavering, the tough call to move on had to be made.
The less charitable interpretation is that this is a shitshow.
— Down Goes Brown (@DownGoesBrown) May 19, 2023
Again, this is all based on one person’s version of the story. There’s almost certainly more here, and maybe a lot more. All the hot takes from today might be out of date when more information comes out. Even going off of Shanahan’s telling, it feels like something was going on with those offers and counter-offers that may have knocked things off track. Owners have a way of meddling in this stuff, and when they do sometimes the employees have to cover for them. Maybe another GM emerged as an unexpected Plan B, and Shanahan can’t tell us who it is yet. There’s always another layer. We’ll find out the truth soon enough. Probably multiple versions of it.
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But for now, we can only take Shanahan at his word, at least about the basics. And that looks like this:
The Maple Leafs wanted to take a season to decide on their path forward.
After most of a year, they made their decision.
And then they changed their minds in four days. Based largely on one press conference.
I’m looking for a way that story reflects well on the team. I’m not finding it. Instead, this feels like the way the old Leafs would do things. Rashly. Almost randomly. Making big, franchise-altering decisions based on what somebody’s gut is telling them. Years of progress getting wiped out in a few days, or even hours.
None of this is even a defense of Dubas. I’ve made the case for big changes more than once over the last few weeks, and turfing the GM surely qualifies. Shanahan could have shown up on Friday afternoon and told us: Sorry, it hasn’t been good enough. Or maybe: He did a good job, but I have somebody better who’s ready to go. Or even: As a guy with three rings, I decided that Kyle just isn’t the right guy to take us to the Stanley Cup, and that’s the only goal that matters for this franchise.
Instead, we heard about a mind made up, and then unmade. In four days.
And there’s that feeling again.
I hope I’m wrong. I hope that when we find out what really happened here, it all makes a lot more sense than the version Shanahan just laid out.
I really, really hope that. Because I’ve had that sinking feeling for most of my life as a Maple Leafs fan, and I don’t like it, and I got used to not having it around.
The Leafs need a new GM, and almost certainly a new coach, and possibly a roster overhaul. And their fans need answers on how this all really went down. We’ll likely get all of that over the coming weeks.
But for now, this feels like a franchise that’s adrift, and confused. If there’s a long-term plan, it isn’t one that can’t be scrapped based on a press conference or a few phone calls. And somehow, the team seems even further away from a championship than they did when they shook hands at the end of another lost season just a week ago.
I know the feeling. I’m betting you do too. Let’s see how long it lasts this time.
(Photo of Brendan Shanahan: Arlyn McAdorey / The Canadian Press via AP)
