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Yahoo
2 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
'Not Always Necessarily The Best Thing': Thriving With Oilers Kasperi Kapanen Reflects On Pressure-Filled Maple Leafs Media Experience
'Not Always Necessarily The Best Thing': Thriving With Oilers Kasperi Kapanen Reflects On Pressure-Filled Maple Leafs Media Experience Edmonton Oilers forward Kasperi Kapanen is among many former Toronto Maple Leafs performing strongly during the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs, and ahead of the Stanley Cup Final, he was asked about his tenure in Toronto. 'Media presence is big there and not always necessarily the best thing, but it does prepare you for the future,' Kapanen told reporters, including TSN's Mark Masters. 'Coming to Edmonton, with it being in Canada, I was used to it. But I think you guys in Toronto, it's still on another level." Advertisement Kapanen's tenure with the Maple Leafs was an interesting one. A key piece in a trade that saw the Leafs deal Phil Kessel to the Pittsburgh Penguins, expectations were high for the 22nd pick in the 2014 NHL Draft. It wasn't until the 2018-19 season that Kapanen broke out, scoring 20 goals and adding 24 assists in 78 games. Before that, however, he had already scored a significant playoff overtime goal against the Washington Capitals in 2017. After 2018-19, however, Kapanen's production with the Leafs not only began to wane, but he was also benched after sleeping in and being late for a practice. Kapanen was dealt back to Pittsburgh in 2020, a move that was partly due to his play but also a means of shedding salary. After a few seasons with the Penguins, questions about his defensive ability began to permeate, putting his overall reliability into question. His struggles culminated in being placed on waivers in February 2023. Later that year, he was convicted of aggravated DUI in Finland and opened up about his struggles with alcohol. Report: Kapanen suspected of aggravated drunk driving Report: Kapanen suspected of aggravated drunk driving ST. LOUIS -- With training camp less than two weeks away, the last thing the St. Louis Blues want to deal with is an off-ice issue. Advertisement The Blues re-signed Kapanen to a one-year, $1 million deal, but he again struggled with the same on-ice issues that have plagued his career. He was placed on waivers and claimed by the Edmonton Oilers. Although he sat out all of Round 1, Kapanen has since been a key contributor, including scoring the overtime Game 5 clinching goal against the Vegas Golden Knights in Round 2. In three games against the Dallas Stars, Kapanen maintained strong forechecking and penalty-kill contributions. This was very much Kapanen's last chance to show he belonged in the NHL. When it has mattered the most, he has shown that he can play the way teams need him to for sustained success. Maple Leafs Invite Knights Goaltender Austin Elliott To Training Camp After Memorial Cup Title Maple Leafs Invite Knights Goaltender Austin Elliott To Training Camp After Memorial Cup Title London Knights goaltender Austin Elliott has a ticket to an NHL training camp this fall. 'I'll Be Ready For Camp': Why Maple Leafs Prospect Easton Cowan Believes He's Prepared For The NHL After Memorial Cup Win 'I'll Be Ready For Camp': Why Maple Leafs Prospect Easton Cowan Believes He's Prepared For The NHL After Memorial Cup Win Toronto Maple Leafs prospect Easton Cowan has his eyes peeled for the NHL next season. Maple Leafs Hire Derek Lalonde As Assistant Coach: What He Brings To Toronto's Bench Maple Leafs Hire Derek Lalonde As Assistant Coach: What He Brings To Toronto's Bench The Toronto Maple Leafs officially announced on Friday the addition of Derek Lalonde to their coaching staff as an assistant. This move filled a vacancy on head coach Craig Berube's staff after associate coach Lane Lambert departed to become the Seattle Kraken's new bench boss. Stay updated with the most interesting Maple Leafs stories, analysis, breaking news and more! Tap the star to add us to your favorites on Google News to never miss a story.
New York Times
23-05-2025
- Business
- New York Times
Ten key moments that defined the Maple Leafs' Brendan Shanahan era
After 11 years as president of the Toronto Maple Leafs, Brendan Shanahan will not return next season. On Thursday, Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment announced his contract would not be renewed. Shanahan leaves in his wake several memorable moments and key decisions that still impact the team on and off the ice. Some teams flirt with rebuilds. Not Shanahan. He spotted a weed in the grass and uprooted the entire lawn. Trading the two pillars of the team in 2015 and 2016 — Phil Kessel and captain Dion Phaneuf — sent a clear message that the Leafs would be overhauled beyond the ice. And then, by firing the coaching staff and members of the scouting staff and PR department, Shanahan ensured an entirely new culture was created in Toronto. It was a culture he would be the mastermind of. Overhauling so many aspects of the organization meant Shanahan would oversee so much of how the organization operated, including in his final season in Toronto. Advertisement Shanahan hired one of the NHL's most in-demand coaches in May 2015 when the promise of talent in Toronto was just that. Shanahan convinced Mike Babcock of that promise. 'I'm proud of (Shanahan). I'm proud that he dreamt big,' then-Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment president and CEO Tim Leiweke said at the time. 'He got the big whale.' Though Babcock's tenure in Toronto was littered with a lack of postseason success and off-ice issues that eventually garnered headlines, Shanahan's hiring of Babcock likely changed the perception of the Leafs league-wide. Under Shanahan, they were serious about turning things around and doing so rather quickly. With Babcock, Shanahan quickly raised the expectations of what the Leafs could be capable of. Those expectations were only amplified throughout his tenure. The Leafs had the No. 4 pick in the 2015 NHL Draft. It would become a critical piece to their rebuild under Shanahan. Babcock looked ahead and wanted to consider drafting a defenceman. He saw the team's pipeline and knew a sizeable puck-mover could put the Leafs in a more advantageous place. Shanahan, among others, pulled for smallish winger Mitch Marner; his skill was undeniable. And the following year, there was (virtually) no debate: Auston Matthews would be the team's No. 1 pick, with Shanahan himself being the team's representative at the draft lottery. Shanahan would tie himself to these two players and the future of the organization in a remarkable way. He believed they would help deliver playoff success, regardless of their shortcomings. Shanahan bet on them and, essentially, his vision. No two players would ever be more aligned with Shanahan's turnaround of the organization and, just as much, his inability to deliver meaningful playoff success. Shanahan went old-school by hiring seasoned executive Lou Lamoriello in 2015. Lamoriello was in Toronto for only three seasons, but his work was tidy: He expedited the Leafs' rebuild by flipping several veterans for an impressive haul of draft picks. He held firm on (some) contract negotiations, especially with some of the eventual Leafs core. It was another step from Shanahan to legitimize the organization. And though not every Lamoriello signing benefited the team long-term (Nikita Zaitsev played for three teams throughout his perplexing seven-year deal), he worked with Shanahan to establish an oft-rigid way of dealing with player contracts. You can debate Lamoriello's vision for the on-ice product. But in hindsight, it's worth wondering what several later high-profile Leafs contract extensions might have looked like with Lamoriello as GM. Of course, Lamoriello didn't remain as GM. In 2018, Shanahan promoted then-32-year-old Kyle Dubas from assistant general manager to general manager, giving Dubas his first job as a top NHL executive. Dubas has previously been hired by the OHL's Soo Greyhounds as GM at just 25. Shanahan wanted his organization to be progressive, and Dubas would become the poster boy for that approach. Giving Dubas the reins over fellow assistant general manager Mark Hunter would end up becoming Shanahan's defining move in Toronto. Advertisement 'As I got to see him evolve and grow here with the Maple Leafs, he was absolutely an option that I didn't want to let go of,' Shanahan said when Dubas was hired. Dubas had a clear vision for a skill-based team that often eschewed typical hockey norms. He swung for the fences, including signing eventual captain John Tavares, trading for veteran defenceman Jake Muzzin and making impressive adds at the 2023 deadline such as Ryan O'Reilly. Some of Dubas' contract decisions are difficult to swallow, especially when viewed through the lens of where this team is right now. Seeing Zach Hyman walk out of Toronto and sign with the Edmonton Oilers and continually perform in the playoffs for a digestible $5.5 million cap hit will continue to sting. All in all, the Leafs still only moved out of the first round of the playoffs once under Dubas' watch. Not every trade that occurred under Dubas' watch can be connected to Shanahan. But only the most notable of trades changed the course of the team. Shanahan announced late in the 2014-15 season that 2009 No. 7 NHL draft pick Kadri would be a healthy scratch for the next two games. The emerging centre had overslept and missed a team meeting. Shanahan implied this was not an isolated incident. 'There's a history here,' Shanahan said at the time. 'Incidents like this won't be tolerated.' So, was it a huge surprise when Kadri was dealt on July 1, 2019, after being suspended in back-to-back playoff years? Maybe not. Was the return of Tyson Barrie and Alex Kerfoot surprising and ultimately disappointing? No question. The Leafs would end up coveting a third-line centre of Kadri's calibre and skill set for years afterwards, and Barrie — the centrepiece of the deal — would play a single season in Toronto. Kadri never wanted to leave Toronto and would go on to play a vital role on a Stanley Cup-winning Colorado Avalanche team in 2022. The Leafs would continually lack players with Kadri's competitiveness and physicality in the playoffs. Moving him became the trade that hurt them the most under Shanahan. Advertisement 'For everyone that thought I was a liability in the playoffs, you can kiss my ass,' Kadri said after winning the Stanley Cup. Babcock's legacy in Toronto has since been tarnished due to off-ice issues. Shanahan and Dubas decided to move on from the veteran coach. And Sheldon Keefe deserved the chance to try his hand with the Leafs, given his Calder Cup win in the AHL. Keefe had a vision for the Leafs that was aligned with Dubas'. His on-ice plan fit the skill set of the Leafs core. Keefe is, and will likely continue to be, a good NHL coach. But keeping Keefe after his team capitulated in the first round of the 2021 playoffs and blew a 3-1 series lead to the Montreal Canadiens was a poor decision in hindsight. How could the Leafs brass tolerate that kind of embarrassing series loss? It's a question that Shanahan continued to leave unanswered for years afterwards. Even the most hardened of journalists who had covered the Leafs for a generation had never been to a press conference like the one Shanahan held on May 19, 2023. Shanahan cut Dubas loose that Friday after back-and-forth negotiations and Dubas expressing in a season-end press conference, in his own way, that he had reservations about continuing as Leafs general manager. 'I think it requires me to have a full family discussion,' Dubas said. Dubas wanted a more attractive compensation package. Shanahan refused to have uncertainty in his front office. He then explained, without much room for misinterpretation, his side of events in a revealing and resolute press conference. Shanahan ditched the platitudes. He said that one email from Dubas quickly changed what he thought was best for the team. 'At that point, if I'm being honest, I had gotten to a different place about how I felt about the future of the Toronto Maple Leafs and what was best,' Shanahan said during that press conference. Dubas would never really explain his side of the story publicly. Shanahan had said enough to keep many shaking their heads anyway. It was a clear reminder of who was still in charge of the Maple Leafs. From inexperienced and progressive on the ice to uber-experienced and battle-hardened in play, Shanahan's swing in his final two general manager hires dramatically altered the look of the Leafs. Shanahan wanted experience in his next GM. He got it in Brad Treliving, who began working in an NHL front office back in 2007. Dubas and Treliving, hired in May 2023, had visions for the on-ice product that could not have been more different. Advertisement Treliving shed longstanding, skilled Leafs defenders in favour of size and length around the goal. He wanted his team to be nastier — certainly nastier than the teams Dubas constructed. And in doing so, Shanahan would only hope that jamming his skilled core forwards into Treliving's vision would work. Treliving was pivotal to the hire of new coach Craig Berube, who further cemented the Leafs' new heavy, north-south game. So far, the same Leafs team has only gotten as far in the playoffs as Dubas' best team. After watching countless Leafs games at Scotiabank Arena from one of the many staff boxes, fans had grown accustomed to one of Shanahan's preferred mid-game looks: he would sit with his chin calmly resting on his hand, his eyes often darting up at the massive screen over the ice to double-check replays. Shanahan always projected an unruffled appearance mid-game, no matter how many times his team was vanquished in the playoffs. He was resolute in his belief that by staying the course, his core would break through. 'We will not be making changes just simply for the sake of saying that we made changes,' Shanahan said after the Leafs lost in the first round of the playoffs in 2022. Leafs grew weary of that sentiment. And so, even as Shanahan sat calmly trying to digest his team losing in embarrassing fashion in Game 7 of the second round this year, fans let their disgust out: they booed relentlessly, they raised middle fingers and threw jerseys on the ice. When the broadcast cameras panned to a serene but contemplative Shanahan, it was easy to imagine who fans might be directing their vitriol at. Shanahan had allowed the core to stay in place amidst nearly a decade of continued playoff losses. His plan to rebuild the Leafs had merit. It changed the team for likely a generation. But under his watch, the Leafs ultimately fell short when it mattered. When Shanhan looked up at the scoreboard one last time and saw the Leafs down 6-1 in a Game 7, he might have realized that too.
