Comedy Platinum out of Toronto - "Canada's Team" quest for the Cup

[Bloody Brian Burke]

Meanwhile, a bizarro Shanahan press conference is taking place right now...

It's a shit show. Why even bring this public lol

They have to fire Shanahan you can't fucking admit that you had your guy and the richest fucking team in the league decided to play cheap at the last minute.

 

[esls79]

Yeah, not a good look by the Flames here. Technically, he's still under contract until June 30th, but allow the man to pursue other opportunities that are out there rather than making him sit on the sidelines for likely a year.

/He doesn't need the money of course, but it's more about treating people right.

Just because he can’t officially speak to other teams doesn’t mean he won’t. C’mon, it’s almost tampering season - here we go.

 

[Bloody Brian Burke]

Same time, that all kind of flies in the face of Dubas' "aw shucks, I dunno, maybe the job is too hard for me" performance on Monday. Almost looks as if Dubas was angling a bit for Shanny's job (or at least the powers of his position) and instead of going above his head he...went to him?

 

[esls79]

It's a shit show. Why even bring this public lol

They have to fire Shanahan you can't fucking admit that you had your guy and the richest fucking team in the league decided to play cheap at the last minute.

Yeah, that’s not a good look. Might need to bring in Doug Ford to clean up this mess of a presser.

 

[Bloody Brian Burke]

Yeah, that’s not a good look. Might need to bring in Doug Ford to clean up this mess of a presser.

No, sorry, this one's a job for the master.

 

[forty_three]

Can't wait until they hire Bowman and coach Q.

Then trade Nylander for Tom Wilson

What if the Capitals got William Nylander?!

The Washington Capitals are in a tough situation. The meanest way I could put it is: their core is rotting. Kuznetsov wants out, Backstrom isn't the same, Wilson is still recovering, Mantha isn't working out, etc, etc etc. We know...

russianmachineneverbreaks.com

 

[Bloody Brian Burke]

If Shanny says experience is something he prefers i have a feeling they’re going for someone like Lombardi or, if they want to work again, Wilson or Murray.

25% chance he goes off the deep end and winds up with Chia or Treliving or someone worse.

/Wonder if Mike Gillis finally finds a way back?

 

[Bloody Brian Burke]

Ok then.

 

[Bloody Brian Burke]

Oh good just in time to make Tkachuk trade 2.0 with AM.

 

[Bloody Brian Burke]

It’s not that I really find Treliving great or terrible compared to any other candidate but I feel like making trades with Calgary would be difficult for him given the situation and Calgary is a team that is definitely open for business right now.

I also don’t know if Pridham is going to stick around for long and who the hell is going to run the draft if he can’t or Treliving can’t etc.? Not sure how you make changes to the roster that will likely involve picks coming back and not have someone fully in charge.

 

[Bloody Brian Burke]

So Mirtle obviously talking to Dubas & Spezza and putting their side out.


Just gonna say if this is one of the trades that was vetoed by Shanny I’m not sure this is the hill Dubas wants to plant his flag on lmao

 

[dash]

This is likely an old rumo(u)r so don't shoot the messenger, but supposedly there were talks of a Marner for Matthew Tkachuk trade prior to Matthew being traded to the Pans.

 

[Bloody Brian Burke]

This is likely an old rumo(u)r so don't shoot the messenger, but supposedly there were talks of a Marner for Matthew Tkachuk trade prior to Matthew being traded to the Pans.

CJ said on a podcast earlier this week that he doesn’t think that ever was a possibility because Tkachuk’s list simply didn’t include any Canadian teams and the Leafs were never willing to break up the core 4 until now.

The real meat re: Marner is his contract - if Shanahan was the one who pushed to get him signed before the season started despite the AAV being way too high vs comparables then anything Marner related is squarely on his shoulders from start to finish. If Marner’s making $8 mil right now instead of $11 mil there’s a lot more wiggle room the past 4 years to get some other things done (although as I’ve said here endlessly they’ve still used what little cap space they’ve had terribly).

Fuck, even Matthews’ contract - it’s not nearly as backbreaking but you really couldn’t have gotten him on the Eichel deal or even for 7 years? Does Marner push for $11 mil if Matthews is at $10 mil? Doubt it.

And I think that’s failure of the entire management system which is why I’m pretty ok with just letting the entire regime go and laughing at the reporters clutching their pearls in these pieces about the Leafs going back to the bad old times because Dubas was egregiously wronged.

 

[Bloody Brian Burke]

One last thing unless some other crazy shit comes out, I keep seeing these guys pointing out how MLSE’s been bad with execs or whatever the past few years and bringing up how long it took to get Masai extended and how it’s possibly a by-product of how badly the Babcock contract went.

FWIW since winning the NBA title the Raptors have been as close to a dumpster fire as they could possibly be and lost in the playoffs play-in round this spring because of a screaming little girl. A championship can buy you a LOT of goodwill and leverage but when even the guy responsible for that kind of success is giving you a bit of buyers’ remorse it might have a bit of an effect on how the organization handles other execs, particularly when their résumé’s highlights are one first round victory and one good depth draft pick.

/and this is before we get to Shanny’s 6 year contract he signed in 2018 apparently.

 

[mattola]

 

[puckhead]

biggest issue as I see it for the leafs

a new GM will need to move some of the core. to put his stamp on the club.
otherwise if you are running it back, might as well have stuck with Dubas, or just expand Shanaplan's role if he's making the calls anyway.
now, trading any of the big 4, you are taking a loss, as people KNOW you've got to make a move. and they are all either fully paid or overpaid, so there's no value to be gained there in a move either.

and regular season doesn't mean anything, anything less than at least a conference final would be viewed as a failure.

hell of a team, and the standards going forward leave zero room for error.

 

[Bloody Brian Burke]

biggest issue as I see it for the leafs

a new GM will need to move some of the core. to put his stamp on the club.
otherwise if you are running it back, might as well have stuck with Dubas, or just expand Shanaplan's role if he's making the calls anyway.
now, trading any of the big 4, you are taking a loss, as people KNOW you've got to make a move. and they are all either fully paid or overpaid, so there's no value to be gained there in a move either.

and regular season doesn't mean anything, anything less than at least a conference final would be viewed as a failure.

hell of a team, and the standards going forward leave zero room for error.

It’s not an enviable job. I think on Dubas most rational fans are of the opinion that he was fine, a little unlucky but hardly the genius some members of the media (and other front offices, apparently) make him out to be.

But the next dude is either gonna be a hero or the reason everything went to shit. There’s no middle here.

Far as big 4 goes I think people are making a big deal out of the idea of moving one or more than
one of them - two are out of contract next summer and I don’t think the Leafs could really afford to lose any of them for nothing which is why Dubas said as much on Monday. And one of the pieces I read today (can’t remember if Mirtles or someone else’s) makes the same conclusion - if you aren’t 100% of either AM or Willy signing on or shortly after July 1 you have to have a plan to put in motion. In all likelihood you lose that trade but if you keep both, make another early exit and then lose both for nothing you’ve lost three times. The key is to not trade for any pending UFA then give them a fat extension before they play a single game for you lol

 

[Bloody Brian Burke]

So dressing room is split, it was before Dubas was let go and now there’s a “board interference” narrative.

Fun!

 

[dash]

So dressing room is split, it was before Dubas was let go and now there’s a “board interference” narrative.

Fun!

 

[Bloody Brian Burke]

Did people think the board, 40% of whom is the National rights holder and has gotten absolutely railed by the lack of Leaf playoff success, was going to be respond positively to the GM demanding more autonomy despite his lack of success?

I’m concerned if the rumors about the room at the exit interviews are true. That would indicate something much more rotten going on. The rest is whatever - if players are upset that the GM was fired they should’ve played better.