Toronto Maple Leafs are officially done with Brendan Shanahan

The Toronto Maple Leafs have announced that they will be cutting ties with longtime team president and alternate governor Brendan Shanahan.

After 11 years with the organization, the Maple Leafs took to social media to say that the organization has decided not to renew Shanahan's contract, which expired this summer.

This comes just a day after news broke that Toronto had allowed the New York Islanders to talk with Shanahan about an opportunity in their front office.

"Over the past 11 seasons, Brendan Shanahan has made countless contributions to the Toronto Maple Leafs on the ice, off the ice and in the community," said MLSE President and CEO Keith Pelley in a release.

"Our responsibility and driving motivation, however, is to add a new chapter to the Maple Leafs' championship history, and it was determined that a new voice was required to take the team to the next level in the years ahead. "

MLSE announces changes to Toronto Maple Leafs executive leadership team

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— Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) May 22, 2025

The 56-year-old Hall-of-Famer joined the Maple Leafs back during the 2014-15 season and oversaw a transformative era for the franchise. Under his control, the Leafs amassed super-star talent through the draft that included the likes of Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, and William Nylander.

The team also made several high-profile acquisitions under his leadership, chief among them being the signing of John Tavares to a long-term deal in the summer of 2018. Despite all these moves, the Leafs advanced past the first round only twice and never once played in the Eastern Conference Final.

Shanahan has released a statement following the news of his departure, leaving nothing but good things to say about the Maple Leafs organization and regrets for what he wasn’t able to accomplish.

"Toronto is where I was born and raised, where my family still lives, and being a part of this historic franchise will always be one of the greatest honours of my life," Shanahan wrote.

"While I am proud of the rebuild we embarked on starting in 2014, ultimately, I came here to help win the Stanley Cup, and we did not... There is nothing more I wanted to deliver to our fans, and my biggest regret is that we could not finish the job."

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— Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) May 22, 2025

Toronto came within a single win of advancing to the final four this season, but ended up putting forth a disappointing Game 7 performance on home ice against the Florida Panthers, losing by a lopsided score of 6-1.

Extensive changes at the executive level have long been rumoured for the Maple Leafs, and it seems like this latest loss was the thing that finally got the ball rolling in that direction.

Time will tell who MLSE decides is best to fill the big shoes left by Shanahan's departure.