Leafs' Shanahan, Treliving and Pelley to speak at 10:30am ET on TSN.ca
Published
The Toronto Maple Leafs management team will speak Friday after making the decision to fire head coach Sheldon Keefe on Thursday after five seasons with the team.
Maple Leafs president Brendan Shanahan, general manager Brad Treliving and Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment CEO Keith Pelley will be made available to the media.
The Maple Leafs made the decision to part ways with Keefe after his fifth playoff run with the team ended in a fourth opening-round exit. The team said it "will immediately begin the search for a new head coach, and decisions regarding the remainder of the coaching staff will follow."
“Today’s decision was difficult. Sheldon is an excellent coach and a great man; however, we determined a new voice is needed to help the team push through to reach our ultimate goal," Treliving said in a statement. "We thank Sheldon for his hard work and dedication to the organization over the last nine years, and wish him and his family all the very best.”
The Maple Leafs' season ended on Saturday with a 2-1 overtime loss in Game 7 against the Boston Bruins. Toronto went 46-26-10 in the regular season, finishing third in the Atlantic Division.
Other topics facing the management group include the future of the team's "Core 4". Captain John Tavares and winger Mitch Marner are both set to enter the final seasons of their current contracts and both told the media on Monday that they would like to stay with the Leafs long-term. Treliving has signed both Auston Matthews and William Nylander to contract extensions since taking over last summer.
Treliving, 54, is entering his second off-season with the Maple Leafs as the former Calgary Flames general manager took over for the departed Kyle Dubas last year.
Shanahan, 55, joined the Maple Leafs' front office in 2014 and has seen one series win over eight playoff appearances as they have been eliminated in the first-round seven times.
Pelley, a 60-year-old Canadian businessman, recently took over his new role as CEO after a near decade-long run running the PGA European Tour.
The media availability was originally scheduled to take place on Thursday though the attendees were not named at the time of that announcement.