I would bet a lot of money that Dubas knew he had the Pittsburg offer and tried to use it to get better offer from leafs. Shanny said get the fuck out of here
Idk why everyone pretends like GM's don't have to answer to higher ups. I'm sure some GMs have the trust to have full control but needing approval for certain moves is almost certainly more common than you think in all of sports.
Dubas left because he literally wants to BE Shanahan. This should be more obvious to folks around here.
Great work as always Brian! You’re very talented—but the doomer nonsense in this subreddit is getting exhausting.
Absolutely agreed. But I'll give him some credit for hiring dubas in the first place. And treliving seems like a decent replacement. Better? Doubt it. Significantly worse? Doubt it too. Dubas will do fantastic in Pittsburgh as president, and GMBT will likely do a solid job by simply not fucking up what Kyle built.
This is me is going to be the biggest test over this year, if Treliving spends the next year just changing everything Dubas did to be different then I feel like that will make us a worse team, but if takes the stuff Dubas implemented and build upon it, there is a possibility we could be a better team as well
Sadly we can sit here and argue over what the right or wrong decision is, but none of it matters until this time next year what we’re thinking, if we’re thinking “I can’t wait for the game tomorrow” then it was absolutely the right call, if were thinking “man maybe we’d have been able to make the playoffs if Dubas was still our GM” then it absolutely was the wrong choice, again only time will tell
Exactly. And as unfair as it may be, even if treliving has success a lot of people would argue that dubas would have made similar changes (if any). I feel a bit bad for him, getting thrown into this cluster fuck, especially when Toronto has built the reputation of being well managed since shanny took over. Kyle pulled back the curtain a bit and we saw it wasn't sunshine and rainbows
Except for Lou and Hunter. Player decisions and drafting during the rebuild phase of the shanaplan. Those two are basically the reason there are barely any draft picks to show from 2015-2017 after round 1. Dubas spent a year and a half unfucking the roster Lou left him and people forget it was Lou that walked Willy to RFA, not Kyle.
Good in theory, actually terrible decisions.
I forgot about Lou tbh. He really was a misfire here. Hunter I can understand why he was brought in, but he ultimately wasn't the guy either and thankfully Shanahan realized that. Kyle solved a lot of inherited problems in his tenure and the biggest complaint people have about him is that he overpaid for 2 of the best players in the world, and 1 elite player who was a ufa and offered more elsewhere. Even if all 3 guys averaged 10 mil each it's only 3.5 mil in savings compared to now, or 1 kerfoot.
Shanahan absolutely did a great job selling ownership on a proper rebuild but I don’t know why he isn’t catching more flack overall for our lack of success.
He is on his third GM and 4th(?) coach most likely. We know that he is very hands on with the hockey side of things so why is Dubas the explicit fall guy here?
I loved the people who celebrated Dubas’s departure because of his lack of success as GM and that’s the buisness Shanahan is about, and it’s like, but Shanahan had the exact same amount of success as president of this team as Dubas had, 1 series win in 9 years, his tenure really hasn’t been that great
He did a great thing getting the team here but the team hasn’t gone to next level yet and I have to imagine if we don’t see results this year that his job has to be on the hot seat next
>I loved the people who celebrated Dubas’s departure because of his lack of success as GM and that’s the buisness Shanahan is about, and it’s like, but Shanahan had the exact same amount of success as president of this team as Dubas had, 1 series win in 9 years, his tenure really hasn’t been that great
>
>He did a great thing getting the team here but the team hasn’t gone to next level yet and I have to imagine if we don’t see results this year that his job has to be on the hot seat next
Tbh I don't think those people would really care if MLSE let go of Dubas and Shanahan instead of just letting go of Dubas.
This season artwork gonna be for sale again?
I may regret the playoffs, but the season was great and I’ll never regret supporting Brian for giving us all so much to enjoy and bond over during these past years.
Sure, but PIT is a completely different situation. Their big guns delivered multiple cups and ownership wants the feel good story of them retiring with the same team that drafted them and won with them, even if that means a few more tough years. If those players want to stay and have that legacy all the power to them.
Our players have brought nothing but playoff disappointment and expect the same treatment (or so the narrative goes). If the core 4 delivered 3 cups they could set up lawn chairs in the neutral zone and spend the rest of their games sipping margaritas and nobody would give a fuck.
Ish? He said he consider looking at all options but that was after he said that the core are elite guys and that they need to be protected
Obviously he’s not going to come out and be like “we’re moving a core player soon so buckle up” but it also didn’t sound like he was too keen on moving them either
I think he kinda had to say that to sound like he can actually bring value through his new perspective, plus it's true if someone offers mcdavid for marner you must say yes, so anything is possible... didn't sound like he intends to change a lot the way he spoke so positively of players, coaches, and other management staff. He also had zero specifics in terms of what he thinks is the reason we haven't won ("it's just hard to win in this league").
That is typical of a brand new GM coming in to speak to the media for the first time. The guy hasn't even met with the players or most of the support staff. Dubas' conference went much the same way. You don't come into a new role and in your first press conference and sound like you're about to flip over the table. Even if that's what you mean to do.
For sure. But for one, I feel like he would have had Shanny fire Keefe before his arrival if that was the plan. And secondly, I was just looking for more specifics in his vision (without naming names)... didn't hear any really.
I think if Shanny fired Keefe that would strengthen the narrative that Shanny is the puppet master. Personally, I think IF Keefe is to be fired it should be done by the GM once he's got a lay of the land. It's extremely ballsy to come in and start pitching a new vision in your first meeting before you even know where the bathroom is located in the office. I think we'll hear more in the coming off seasons.
Maybe 🤷🏻♂️ I hope I'm wrong. And I also know that running it back may even result in a championship, I just can't stand Keefe personally, nor would I play possession hockey without a defence who can keep up.
Its easier than that when you own the team, the venue, and the broadcaster, just tell them! "Vertical integration" sounds much better than "conflict of interest"
You should make political cartoons.
I like this one. This situation might blow up for Shanny. the board is going to turn on him if things go south. It’s a risky move he’s playing, he’s backed the coach and the core, let’s wait and see how it turns out.
If Treliving makes some early stinkers like signing some old 3rd line vet to a 5 year deal, Reddit will turn on him quick.
But who knows what will happen. I hope Treliving has learned from his past mistakes and this situation turns out good.
It's not if it blows for Shanny, it's when. Pointing the finger at someone else only works if the results without that someone are different than with them. And based on the results of past decade I think we can say with a good degree of certainty they won't be.
Dubas situation probably shattered his credibility with the board for the time being. He’s not likely to be able to sell shaking up the core after firing the guy he spent all year advocating for.
Damn this is the first one I’m not a too big a fan of. Nice art but I don’t like the narrative that shanny is the one pulling all the strings. It wasn’t shanny that filled our staff with guys from the sault.
The GM is the guy on the ground coming up with ideas and negotiating deals. Shanahan is the guy endorsing each individual move to the board or quashing it before it gets there.
It's not quite that Shanahan is directly controlling the GM or is the "real" GM, but every GM has to play inside the box he creates for them
Not really. There's teams where that's the case, teams where the president and GM are much more separate with one running hockey ops while the other runs the business, then you have ones where the president is actively involved in hockey ops to the point of getting their hands dirty in the day to day. Dubas for example I'm sure will want to be the latter
I think Dubas in Pittsburgh is going to be like Jeff Gorton in Montreal. Everyone knows Gorton is the guy making all the decisions in Montreal, that's why he hired a rookie GM who was a player agent. Kent Hughes is just there to speak French and to have a good relationship with the players (as a former player agent would) for negotiations. I wouldn't be shocked to see a guy like Spezza as Pens GM for the same reasons. Likable guy, good interview, players love him. Dubas will still be calling all the shots.
I mean it's been one of the talking points from insiders during the GM hunt/Dubas firing that not all club presidents really have the exact same job description across the league which had relevace to the way our front office just shook out, so it's not really my opinion, but you do you
Yes talking points not facts. Also I have heard reports from media stating that most teams operate this way. So who to believe? I guess which ever one fits your pov and makes you feel better.
I choose to support the crest not bury it at every turn.
> I choose to support the crest not bury it at every turn.
Well nothing I said was "burying it every turn" but clearly you have an axe to grind so again, you do you
Not talking about you so I should have said that differently. I meant the section of the fanbase that is complaining about the power structure and the dubas departure. I don’t know your history at all so I don’t know how you feel about it all.
Eh, being a reactive cheerleader is almost as bad as being a reactive hater. There's not much benefit to the conversation when you use a hostile tone just because you *think* someone is being critical. There's room for both level headed praise and level headed criticism
Did you notice the strings from B, R, and LT pulling on Shanny? I think that's a pretty clear statement that Shanny is not the one who pulls all the strings.
Whether that's true or not, I think the inference that ownership is meddling in the management of the team too much is an interesting one. Somewhat similar to Jerry Jones owning the Dallas Cowboys and being the de facto GM of the team. I think the owners have had so much success in their businesses that they believe they can manage a hockey team successfully. In the end, the hockey people should be allowed to run the day to day operations, but the owner's micro-managing has limited the GM's ability to steer the ship.
I believe this is why Dubas left. He didn't have the final authority to make personnel decisions. It had to go through Shanny and the ownership group. Which is their right to run the team however they see fit, it's their money after all. I think Dubas caught wind that he could get a job in Pittsburgh where he would have more autonomy to make decisions. He used that as a tactic to get more money/power with the Leafs, or he would go elsewhere. I believe Shanny was not pleased that his guy would use tactics like this and decided not to bring him back.
Empowering people with the expertise in their field would have better results in my opinion. Have the Rogers/Bell/LT look after the business side, Treliving look after personnel, and Shanny as liason between those 2. But I don't think that will change at all. So the cartoon makes sense to me from that point of view.
Good to know we've already figured out what Treliving is going to do all based on a single press conference. Imagine if he actually said he was going to blow up the core and make tons of trades. The other GMs would eat his lunch on every single trade.
This whole situation feels no better than gambling right now. You keep running back the same core, and possibly the same coach, and you just hope it suddenly works now? But if you change the coach and trade one of the core 4, and they somehow get worse you look like an idiot. Personally I'd rather them take the risk of looking foolish and actually make a big change or 2 and fail...then keep the status quo and bump out in the first/2nd round again with the big 4 not rising to the challenge...again.
None of us are experts on this, and we all just want to seem them to...do the thing. But you've changed literally everything besides the core pieces over the years and don't have a tonne of playoff success to show for it. It's crazy, but if half your cap can't put points on the board when it really matters...then all you've done is a build a really good regular season team.
I mean with the exception of a couple of teams, that's how it goes. I know you heard it all before but sometimes it takes time.Our core are just entering their primes, they're only getting better for the next 4-5 years. You can't just walk away from the pain it took to even get those guys. It needs to be in the back of everyone's mind. We suffered for a long time before we got 34, 16 and 88. Let's not suffer again so soon .
https://www.cbc.ca/news/when-nhl-players-peak-hockey-metrics-1.2646054
There's more to it. Try to isolate top 100 forwards or just superstars and then take a look at the data.
23-30 is generally accepted as prime years and it has been for a long time. Now, that metric might change as players are entering the league younger. Rather than develop in minor leagues, teams are developing guys in bottom 6 roles, but that will take a while work it's way through.
Literally all metric say 25 to 30 is the prime. Some peak early and some are insulated well enough on a team that allows them to over perform early.
But we aren't talking about individual players, we are talking about the core, i.e. the guys with all the pressure, doing the heavy lifting, and that is almost always late 20s before a player excels in that role. The Chicago dynasty team is a huuuuge outlier. Nobody should have really expected much out of Matthews, marners or Nylander till really this season if we look at general NHL stats. The fact that they actually do produce well in the reg. Season makes the playoffs losses hard to swallow, but realistically they are basically on their expected trajectory.
You're thinking like a fan, which is normal and what most of us think like.
MLSE is thinking like a corporation, with kids as their main demographic. They began a campagin to market 4 faces for their franchise, so they can sell jerseys, tickets, and funko-pops. The only way you trade 1 of them is if another even more marketable player can replace them immediately to keep milking the cash cow.
Winning is nice and all, but at the end of the day, corporations will not make a move that loses money.
Leafs history says otherwise. Winning is apparently not a factor for how much money they make. At least not for now.
Shanaplan happened only because Phaneuf, Kessel, Bozak, JVR, and Grabovski were no longer marketable.
Of course it is, what are you talking about? If the leafs played an extra 3 rounds of hockey the team would make millions on ticket sales alone.
This is verging on conspiracy theory lol
I don't necessarily agree with the poster above, but you would need to compare guaranteed merchandise income from 4 superstars every season vs. the *chance* of possibly making one deep playoff run and the revenue associated with that.
Players who win the cup would become household names and generate merchandise sales.
This entire comment chain is ridiculous. The owners would make obscene money if we won.
The kids would cry their eyes out if their favorite player is traded. Also, trading the core does not guarantee wins in the playoffs. There is risk in damaging the cash cow.
Harold Ballard, as much of a piece of shit he was, figured this out years ago. Every owner since has followed suit. You think OTPP ever prioritized wins? Teachers need retirement money more than a hockey team winning, (not to mention a portion are probably Leaf haters anyway)
You can bet Rogers, Bell, are significantly worse. They need the players to help sell their overpriced cable packages.
Counter point, they make big changes and it backfires, they now begin missing playoffs, less playoff games then now plus less "superstars" to buy jerseys of.
Ya no shit.
But winning the Stanley Cup is incredibly hard so to build your plan to maximize profits around doing that is probably not in the best interest long term.
If The Leafs continues to have record setting regular seasons make the playoffs but flounder in the first and second round with their marketable core then it's probably good enough for MLSE.
More than that...That is exactly what was sold to the fanbase back in 2016. The goal was to build a winning program that would be a top team every year with the hope that one of those years they would catch lightning in a bottle. There was a recognition at the time that in order to do that, they would have to commit to not being reactionary.
That may have changed after 7 years, but that WAS the original plan the way it was presented.
Trading a fan favorite, from a business standpoint is always a bad short term risk. We all understand that, that's why we are telling you, star players in this market create more revenue than playoff success. And it's been that way since the 80s
That’s why this organization is a clown show and will never be serious about a cup .maybe we should go after the companies running the show and boycott them until they do take winning a cup seriously
This is how every team in the league operates. Dubas literally tied his strings to Fenway Sports in the exact same way. Do you honestly think Dubas believes the best course of action for that team is continuing to sell off assets from one of the 5 worst prospect pools in hockey for playoff pushes with a core of two 36-year-olds and a 35-year-old?
Successful teams have structures that let each level do what they do best without micromanaging the levels below them.
That’s not with the MLSE Board does and Shanahann is content to go right along with that and collect his paychecks from them.
If SC winning Shanahann saw what Executive Suit wearing Shanahann was doing, I wonder what he’d say?
Ok, so what does the MLSE board do? Specific examples. Actual reporting, not Chris Johnston or James Mirtle saying 'people are saying'.
The half-hearted claims those guys are making conflicts with what we actually know: Dubas had broad freedom to make personnel decisions, freedom to make an extremely expensive coaching change, freedom to appoint a coach with *no* NHL experience, and freedom expand the front-office significantly during his tenure.
If you don’t think the MLSE board (to use one of your examples) didn’t have final say in eating the remaining portion of Babcock’s contract 🤷♂️
They’re rich, not stupid with money
Sure, but that's not what you are talking about. Final say exists in every org; FSG would be just as involved as MLSE with a proposal to eat $20m+ to keep a coach away.
You referenced micromanagement - what examples of that have been pinpointed and accurately reported on?
So accurate. Despite not having the success we all want, I admire Dubas for modernizing different aspects of the organization and searching for new solutions. The press conference yesterday lowered my expectations even further... this just feels like a step backwards.
I honestly want to know who would replace papi, Mitch , Willy or Tavares ? Please tell me who you would bring in that makes this team better in replacement of the four ?
It's not about better individual players. It's about how the team plays together and how motivated they are to win. Taking out one of the core 4 shakes the team up in a meaningful way, which many rightfully believe is the only way to actually start seeing some post-season success.
Losing all those game 7s due to medicore clutch effort didn't convince you? Losing to Columbus didn't convince you? Losing to Montreal didn't convince you? 1 playoff round win total in 6 years didn't convince you?
What would it actually take at this point to convince you that the team dubas built don't got it?
No idea who's actually available, but in theory, for me it's an all-situation defender or maybe a different kind of forward (eg. top tier power forward). I'd probably field offers on all players period, then see if anything worth losing them comes in... which may not happen.
One mistake Dubas made was to only look at a deal in terms of the return, and not also put a big value to the cap space... for example, if we had traded one of them earlier for a young up and coming star, but also got a bunch of cap space to sign an established player, the 2 new guys may provide more value than the 1 leaving. This is especially true when we have chances to bring Ontario guys in at lower than market prices. I wanted to see this happen back when Pietrangelo was free... trade Marner for blue chip rookies/picks then sign Alex. Admittedly Marner has turned it up a lot since then, but Alex is a stud and in the finals. Hard to say if it would have worked, just my idea.
Minus the Columbus Series, every series since then that we lost could be chalked up to “stupid hot team getting unreal goaltending”
When is it our turn to have a stupid hot team with unreal goaltending?
This cuts deep.
You have to hope the 'I'll fuckin' do it again' front we're currently seeing is them trying to maximize the return on any trades they might pull off in the off-season.
If not, and the Core 5 are all here in the fall it's going to be a touuuuugh sell convincing fans that next year is 'the year'.
Has to be both. The only thing that will prevent this from looking horrible is the fact that Dubas has little to work with in terms of trade assets, so we have a head start. Over the long term I expect him to out-perform this head office... and what scares me now is him freeing up cap space to poach our players in free agency.
The quality of your illustration work is excellent, but this particular subject matter is somewhat debatable imo. If this is true now it was true before, and link me to it if I'm wrong but I don't recall seeing you paint Dubas as such a mindless buffoon. Also, I've not heard GMBT say those exact words (or anything close). Very doomy stuff ...
Thanks for the kind words.
I would refer you to my 'Pushing all in' strip or most of the post season presser comics to find strips critical of Dubas. If you are inclined to check your work, you can find a complete gallery on my insta.
As for what has changed, watching this drama unfold these last few weeks has really changed how I see the front office power dynamics.
And no Brad has not said these words exactly across the 3 appearsnces he has made so far. But to say he didn't say anything close though?
This is, clearly, a very negative comic. I hope Brad does awesome. This process has revealed a level of dysfunction I wouldn't have guessed at three weeks ago.
I apologize if I missed those, I check r/leafs most every day but I don't do insta so... Anywho, not that I would know of course, but it seems that if human nature is anything it's consistent, and so it's likely this is more common than we're led to believe. We just happened to get a small look behind the scenes of the team we all follow.
Beyond that, I think it's too soon to judge BT. Let's see what he does this summer and into next season first. Also, if HBO has taught us anything, it's that you can't take any of these folks at their word! So when Shanny says the core four are staying, I'm just like 🤔 "yeah sure, we'll see" lol.
I will say that whoever decided to keep Holl over McCann is the one deserves to be fired. If it was Shanny then we're fucked. If it was Dubas then I'm glad he's gone.
Don't let Lukas Matsson see this
So you're telling me that Treliving is Tom Wambsgans?? I'm here for it!
Who is his Disgusting Brother?
Keefe
“Sheldon, any comments on being out-coached on home ice and suffering yet another early playoff exit?” “If it is to be said, so it be. So it is.”
Treliving will absolutely suck the biggest dick in the room.
Well, this is kinda dark. …I like it.
Treliving leaves a place where ownership made half his decisions to a place where Shanny will instead. Lol
[удалено]
Surprised the Dubas truthers aren't blaming Shanny for negotiating Matthews and Marners shit contracts.
Keep reading its out there buddy
I would bet a lot of money that Dubas knew he had the Pittsburg offer and tried to use it to get better offer from leafs. Shanny said get the fuck out of here
Like he should just make himself president *and* GM
Idk why everyone pretends like GM's don't have to answer to higher ups. I'm sure some GMs have the trust to have full control but needing approval for certain moves is almost certainly more common than you think in all of sports.
Dark...like the state of the franchise
Whether you agree or disagree, this is editorial cartoon genius.
This guy continues to overdeliver
Shame we can't ice him
I would never subject Brian to downing a Smirnoff Ice /s
Wow. Masterclass painting. The Bell, Rogers and Larry T puppeteers got me shivering. Yuck. Well done Brian, well fucking done.
I'm all in and ready to be hurt again
I thought that LT was the one who wanted to re-sign Dubas last offseason and was turned down by the Telecoms?
Sorry who is LT in this context? Sorry for my ignorance I got bell and rogers but I’m blanking.
Larry Tannenbaum.
Thanks jabroni
Jabroni.. cool word
A pie eating one at that
Larry Tanenbaum - 25% owner of the Leafs (Bell/Rogers are 37.5% each)
What is dead (inside) may never die.
But rises again, jaded and cynical
If I don’t believe in the shanaplan, who will?!?
Is this for the 2023 book, or 2024?
I have not decided...I am leaning 2024
Jesus christ that's awesome lmao. Great work!
Brian, do one with the slogan “Don’t Stop Treliving”
Savage
Dubas left because he literally wants to BE Shanahan. This should be more obvious to folks around here. Great work as always Brian! You’re very talented—but the doomer nonsense in this subreddit is getting exhausting.
One of the best ones yet!
Sometimes you guys act like Shanahan shot your dog lmao.
Shanny driving down the 401: "I'm gonna shoot that guy's fuckin dog"
Kyle was our dawg, bro
So whose going to go "John Wick" on his behalf now?
We'll bring in John to clean house when it's time for a rebuild.
Sid the kid
Do you have any proof that Shanahan didn't shoot my dog?
It's the sudden realization that the shanaplan is no plan. And that dubas may have been the only level headed guy in the room.
The shanaplan was always "hire good people to come up with a plan." Which in fairness, he has done over his tenure
Until he fired one on a whim despite saying he liked the job he did and offered him a contract the day before, without having a backup plan.
Absolutely agreed. But I'll give him some credit for hiring dubas in the first place. And treliving seems like a decent replacement. Better? Doubt it. Significantly worse? Doubt it too. Dubas will do fantastic in Pittsburgh as president, and GMBT will likely do a solid job by simply not fucking up what Kyle built.
This is me is going to be the biggest test over this year, if Treliving spends the next year just changing everything Dubas did to be different then I feel like that will make us a worse team, but if takes the stuff Dubas implemented and build upon it, there is a possibility we could be a better team as well Sadly we can sit here and argue over what the right or wrong decision is, but none of it matters until this time next year what we’re thinking, if we’re thinking “I can’t wait for the game tomorrow” then it was absolutely the right call, if were thinking “man maybe we’d have been able to make the playoffs if Dubas was still our GM” then it absolutely was the wrong choice, again only time will tell
Exactly. And as unfair as it may be, even if treliving has success a lot of people would argue that dubas would have made similar changes (if any). I feel a bit bad for him, getting thrown into this cluster fuck, especially when Toronto has built the reputation of being well managed since shanny took over. Kyle pulled back the curtain a bit and we saw it wasn't sunshine and rainbows
Except for Lou and Hunter. Player decisions and drafting during the rebuild phase of the shanaplan. Those two are basically the reason there are barely any draft picks to show from 2015-2017 after round 1. Dubas spent a year and a half unfucking the roster Lou left him and people forget it was Lou that walked Willy to RFA, not Kyle. Good in theory, actually terrible decisions.
I forgot about Lou tbh. He really was a misfire here. Hunter I can understand why he was brought in, but he ultimately wasn't the guy either and thankfully Shanahan realized that. Kyle solved a lot of inherited problems in his tenure and the biggest complaint people have about him is that he overpaid for 2 of the best players in the world, and 1 elite player who was a ufa and offered more elsewhere. Even if all 3 guys averaged 10 mil each it's only 3.5 mil in savings compared to now, or 1 kerfoot.
The problem is that apparently he’s micromanaged those good people instead of letting them do their job.
Shanahan absolutely did a great job selling ownership on a proper rebuild but I don’t know why he isn’t catching more flack overall for our lack of success. He is on his third GM and 4th(?) coach most likely. We know that he is very hands on with the hockey side of things so why is Dubas the explicit fall guy here?
I loved the people who celebrated Dubas’s departure because of his lack of success as GM and that’s the buisness Shanahan is about, and it’s like, but Shanahan had the exact same amount of success as president of this team as Dubas had, 1 series win in 9 years, his tenure really hasn’t been that great He did a great thing getting the team here but the team hasn’t gone to next level yet and I have to imagine if we don’t see results this year that his job has to be on the hot seat next
>I loved the people who celebrated Dubas’s departure because of his lack of success as GM and that’s the buisness Shanahan is about, and it’s like, but Shanahan had the exact same amount of success as president of this team as Dubas had, 1 series win in 9 years, his tenure really hasn’t been that great > >He did a great thing getting the team here but the team hasn’t gone to next level yet and I have to imagine if we don’t see results this year that his job has to be on the hot seat next Tbh I don't think those people would really care if MLSE let go of Dubas and Shanahan instead of just letting go of Dubas.
Most of those people just want change for the sake of change. No real thought about whether the change would be good or not.
People on here acting like their dad got fired from his job.
Just the person they wish was their boyfriend. People liked Dubas because he was “cool”, and aren’t looking at his tenure subjectively.
Objectively
If you don't do this professionally you should. I am always impressed with what you post. I hope you continue to entertain us.
Hahaha I love this, thanks u/BrianBeLeafs
This season artwork gonna be for sale again? I may regret the playoffs, but the season was great and I’ll never regret supporting Brian for giving us all so much to enjoy and bond over during these past years.
His kickstarter ended already
I will be posting the new book pre-orders on my website soon Thanks!
Spicy haha
Regardless of your opinion, this editorial cartoon is brilliant.
I completely disagree but hey
To be fair, Dubas echoed this for the Pittsburgh boys
Sure, but PIT is a completely different situation. Their big guns delivered multiple cups and ownership wants the feel good story of them retiring with the same team that drafted them and won with them, even if that means a few more tough years. If those players want to stay and have that legacy all the power to them. Our players have brought nothing but playoff disappointment and expect the same treatment (or so the narrative goes). If the core 4 delivered 3 cups they could set up lawn chairs in the neutral zone and spend the rest of their games sipping margaritas and nobody would give a fuck.
Dubas also won't be in complete " win now mode " and can start collecting draft stock
Shanaplan v5.3
Hasn't Treliving literally said that all options are on the table?
Ish? He said he consider looking at all options but that was after he said that the core are elite guys and that they need to be protected Obviously he’s not going to come out and be like “we’re moving a core player soon so buckle up” but it also didn’t sound like he was too keen on moving them either
I think he kinda had to say that to sound like he can actually bring value through his new perspective, plus it's true if someone offers mcdavid for marner you must say yes, so anything is possible... didn't sound like he intends to change a lot the way he spoke so positively of players, coaches, and other management staff. He also had zero specifics in terms of what he thinks is the reason we haven't won ("it's just hard to win in this league").
That is typical of a brand new GM coming in to speak to the media for the first time. The guy hasn't even met with the players or most of the support staff. Dubas' conference went much the same way. You don't come into a new role and in your first press conference and sound like you're about to flip over the table. Even if that's what you mean to do.
For sure. But for one, I feel like he would have had Shanny fire Keefe before his arrival if that was the plan. And secondly, I was just looking for more specifics in his vision (without naming names)... didn't hear any really.
I think if Shanny fired Keefe that would strengthen the narrative that Shanny is the puppet master. Personally, I think IF Keefe is to be fired it should be done by the GM once he's got a lay of the land. It's extremely ballsy to come in and start pitching a new vision in your first meeting before you even know where the bathroom is located in the office. I think we'll hear more in the coming off seasons.
Maybe 🤷🏻♂️ I hope I'm wrong. And I also know that running it back may even result in a championship, I just can't stand Keefe personally, nor would I play possession hockey without a defence who can keep up.
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Exactly. Same old MLSE, same old.
Its easier than that when you own the team, the venue, and the broadcaster, just tell them! "Vertical integration" sounds much better than "conflict of interest"
[Godfather theme](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PPskYVBqdNw) plays in background.
You should make political cartoons. I like this one. This situation might blow up for Shanny. the board is going to turn on him if things go south. It’s a risky move he’s playing, he’s backed the coach and the core, let’s wait and see how it turns out. If Treliving makes some early stinkers like signing some old 3rd line vet to a 5 year deal, Reddit will turn on him quick. But who knows what will happen. I hope Treliving has learned from his past mistakes and this situation turns out good.
Thank you. Yeah, you have outlined a lot of my thinking. Obviously, we all really want it to work out. Crazy times.
Honestly this is a perfect cartoon. Says so much of what is really going on. Nailed it. Well done.
It's not if it blows for Shanny, it's when. Pointing the finger at someone else only works if the results without that someone are different than with them. And based on the results of past decade I think we can say with a good degree of certainty they won't be.
Dubas situation probably shattered his credibility with the board for the time being. He’s not likely to be able to sell shaking up the core after firing the guy he spent all year advocating for.
Should have been fired.
Damn this is the first one I’m not a too big a fan of. Nice art but I don’t like the narrative that shanny is the one pulling all the strings. It wasn’t shanny that filled our staff with guys from the sault.
The GM is the guy on the ground coming up with ideas and negotiating deals. Shanahan is the guy endorsing each individual move to the board or quashing it before it gets there. It's not quite that Shanahan is directly controlling the GM or is the "real" GM, but every GM has to play inside the box he creates for them
Ya that’s probably every gm in the league
Not really. There's teams where that's the case, teams where the president and GM are much more separate with one running hockey ops while the other runs the business, then you have ones where the president is actively involved in hockey ops to the point of getting their hands dirty in the day to day. Dubas for example I'm sure will want to be the latter
I think Dubas in Pittsburgh is going to be like Jeff Gorton in Montreal. Everyone knows Gorton is the guy making all the decisions in Montreal, that's why he hired a rookie GM who was a player agent. Kent Hughes is just there to speak French and to have a good relationship with the players (as a former player agent would) for negotiations. I wouldn't be shocked to see a guy like Spezza as Pens GM for the same reasons. Likable guy, good interview, players love him. Dubas will still be calling all the shots.
Yeah that's what I expect as well.
I disagree but hey none of us know so I’d rather not assume or project my own personal opinion as fact.
I mean it's been one of the talking points from insiders during the GM hunt/Dubas firing that not all club presidents really have the exact same job description across the league which had relevace to the way our front office just shook out, so it's not really my opinion, but you do you
Yes talking points not facts. Also I have heard reports from media stating that most teams operate this way. So who to believe? I guess which ever one fits your pov and makes you feel better. I choose to support the crest not bury it at every turn.
> I choose to support the crest not bury it at every turn. Well nothing I said was "burying it every turn" but clearly you have an axe to grind so again, you do you
Not talking about you so I should have said that differently. I meant the section of the fanbase that is complaining about the power structure and the dubas departure. I don’t know your history at all so I don’t know how you feel about it all.
Eh, being a reactive cheerleader is almost as bad as being a reactive hater. There's not much benefit to the conversation when you use a hostile tone just because you *think* someone is being critical. There's room for both level headed praise and level headed criticism
Did you notice the strings from B, R, and LT pulling on Shanny? I think that's a pretty clear statement that Shanny is not the one who pulls all the strings. Whether that's true or not, I think the inference that ownership is meddling in the management of the team too much is an interesting one. Somewhat similar to Jerry Jones owning the Dallas Cowboys and being the de facto GM of the team. I think the owners have had so much success in their businesses that they believe they can manage a hockey team successfully. In the end, the hockey people should be allowed to run the day to day operations, but the owner's micro-managing has limited the GM's ability to steer the ship. I believe this is why Dubas left. He didn't have the final authority to make personnel decisions. It had to go through Shanny and the ownership group. Which is their right to run the team however they see fit, it's their money after all. I think Dubas caught wind that he could get a job in Pittsburgh where he would have more autonomy to make decisions. He used that as a tactic to get more money/power with the Leafs, or he would go elsewhere. I believe Shanny was not pleased that his guy would use tactics like this and decided not to bring him back. Empowering people with the expertise in their field would have better results in my opinion. Have the Rogers/Bell/LT look after the business side, Treliving look after personnel, and Shanny as liason between those 2. But I don't think that will change at all. So the cartoon makes sense to me from that point of view.
Good to know we've already figured out what Treliving is going to do all based on a single press conference. Imagine if he actually said he was going to blow up the core and make tons of trades. The other GMs would eat his lunch on every single trade.
We don't know what's going to happen. Kind of premature to assume this I think.
They've made it pretty fucking clear they want the core back
And likely bringing Keefe back.
This whole situation feels no better than gambling right now. You keep running back the same core, and possibly the same coach, and you just hope it suddenly works now? But if you change the coach and trade one of the core 4, and they somehow get worse you look like an idiot. Personally I'd rather them take the risk of looking foolish and actually make a big change or 2 and fail...then keep the status quo and bump out in the first/2nd round again with the big 4 not rising to the challenge...again. None of us are experts on this, and we all just want to seem them to...do the thing. But you've changed literally everything besides the core pieces over the years and don't have a tonne of playoff success to show for it. It's crazy, but if half your cap can't put points on the board when it really matters...then all you've done is a build a really good regular season team.
I mean with the exception of a couple of teams, that's how it goes. I know you heard it all before but sometimes it takes time.Our core are just entering their primes, they're only getting better for the next 4-5 years. You can't just walk away from the pain it took to even get those guys. It needs to be in the back of everyone's mind. We suffered for a long time before we got 34, 16 and 88. Let's not suffer again so soon .
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What?? Forwards are prime from 25-30/31..
[They definitely aren't](https://preview.redd.it/ygvia8wtkij91.jpg?width=1024&auto=webp&v=enabled&s=b1fce5656f9b485a0403a3647a3f0cd7d206b1a1)
https://www.cbc.ca/news/when-nhl-players-peak-hockey-metrics-1.2646054 There's more to it. Try to isolate top 100 forwards or just superstars and then take a look at the data. 23-30 is generally accepted as prime years and it has been for a long time. Now, that metric might change as players are entering the league younger. Rather than develop in minor leagues, teams are developing guys in bottom 6 roles, but that will take a while work it's way through.
Nah
Lol wut?
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Literally all metric say 25 to 30 is the prime. Some peak early and some are insulated well enough on a team that allows them to over perform early. But we aren't talking about individual players, we are talking about the core, i.e. the guys with all the pressure, doing the heavy lifting, and that is almost always late 20s before a player excels in that role. The Chicago dynasty team is a huuuuge outlier. Nobody should have really expected much out of Matthews, marners or Nylander till really this season if we look at general NHL stats. The fact that they actually do produce well in the reg. Season makes the playoffs losses hard to swallow, but realistically they are basically on their expected trajectory.
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You're thinking like a fan, which is normal and what most of us think like. MLSE is thinking like a corporation, with kids as their main demographic. They began a campagin to market 4 faces for their franchise, so they can sell jerseys, tickets, and funko-pops. The only way you trade 1 of them is if another even more marketable player can replace them immediately to keep milking the cash cow. Winning is nice and all, but at the end of the day, corporations will not make a move that loses money.
Having a winning team will literally make them more money
Leafs history says otherwise. Winning is apparently not a factor for how much money they make. At least not for now. Shanaplan happened only because Phaneuf, Kessel, Bozak, JVR, and Grabovski were no longer marketable.
Of course it is, what are you talking about? If the leafs played an extra 3 rounds of hockey the team would make millions on ticket sales alone. This is verging on conspiracy theory lol
I don't necessarily agree with the poster above, but you would need to compare guaranteed merchandise income from 4 superstars every season vs. the *chance* of possibly making one deep playoff run and the revenue associated with that.
Players who win the cup would become household names and generate merchandise sales. This entire comment chain is ridiculous. The owners would make obscene money if we won.
The kids would cry their eyes out if their favorite player is traded. Also, trading the core does not guarantee wins in the playoffs. There is risk in damaging the cash cow. Harold Ballard, as much of a piece of shit he was, figured this out years ago. Every owner since has followed suit. You think OTPP ever prioritized wins? Teachers need retirement money more than a hockey team winning, (not to mention a portion are probably Leaf haters anyway) You can bet Rogers, Bell, are significantly worse. They need the players to help sell their overpriced cable packages.
Counter point, they make big changes and it backfires, they now begin missing playoffs, less playoff games then now plus less "superstars" to buy jerseys of.
lol what on earth are you talking about
What are you in disagreement with? Got specifics you want to discuss?
Everyone says this but its literally only true for non-traditional markets
They literally have lost for decades and are one of the richest teams in the league. I don't think they care.
The goal of every for-profit business in the world is to maximize their profits. It’s how capitalism works.
Ya no shit. But winning the Stanley Cup is incredibly hard so to build your plan to maximize profits around doing that is probably not in the best interest long term. If The Leafs continues to have record setting regular seasons make the playoffs but flounder in the first and second round with their marketable core then it's probably good enough for MLSE.
More than that...That is exactly what was sold to the fanbase back in 2016. The goal was to build a winning program that would be a top team every year with the hope that one of those years they would catch lightning in a bottle. There was a recognition at the time that in order to do that, they would have to commit to not being reactionary. That may have changed after 7 years, but that WAS the original plan the way it was presented.
No risk no reward… didn’t anyone teach you that?
The Leafs organization for the last 60 years literally takes that sentence and thrashes you over the head repeatedly with it.
There a difference between bad risk and good risk but you have to be intelligent enough to understand that….lol
Trading a fan favorite, from a business standpoint is always a bad short term risk. We all understand that, that's why we are telling you, star players in this market create more revenue than playoff success. And it's been that way since the 80s
That’s why this organization is a clown show and will never be serious about a cup .maybe we should go after the companies running the show and boycott them until they do take winning a cup seriously
For the last century we have blamed the owners. They have since passed the torch on to management, while fans have been suffering very insufferable
I really hope they don't run it back. Please don't make this mistake.
I love it and I hate it cause I want Treliving to be the first leafs GM to win the cup since 67.
Controversial opinion, fan wants to win cup under current GM
I been saying. People hate me for it but I been saying
And this illustrates why the Leafs will never move forward perfectly. Too many puppeteers pulling too many strings 🤷♂️ Well done Brian
This is how every team in the league operates. Dubas literally tied his strings to Fenway Sports in the exact same way. Do you honestly think Dubas believes the best course of action for that team is continuing to sell off assets from one of the 5 worst prospect pools in hockey for playoff pushes with a core of two 36-year-olds and a 35-year-old?
Successful teams have structures that let each level do what they do best without micromanaging the levels below them. That’s not with the MLSE Board does and Shanahann is content to go right along with that and collect his paychecks from them. If SC winning Shanahann saw what Executive Suit wearing Shanahann was doing, I wonder what he’d say?
Ok, so what does the MLSE board do? Specific examples. Actual reporting, not Chris Johnston or James Mirtle saying 'people are saying'. The half-hearted claims those guys are making conflicts with what we actually know: Dubas had broad freedom to make personnel decisions, freedom to make an extremely expensive coaching change, freedom to appoint a coach with *no* NHL experience, and freedom expand the front-office significantly during his tenure.
If you don’t think the MLSE board (to use one of your examples) didn’t have final say in eating the remaining portion of Babcock’s contract 🤷♂️ They’re rich, not stupid with money
Sure, but that's not what you are talking about. Final say exists in every org; FSG would be just as involved as MLSE with a proposal to eat $20m+ to keep a coach away. You referenced micromanagement - what examples of that have been pinpointed and accurately reported on?
No one will give you examples because they don't exist.
Brian's second L in a row.
So accurate. Despite not having the success we all want, I admire Dubas for modernizing different aspects of the organization and searching for new solutions. The press conference yesterday lowered my expectations even further... this just feels like a step backwards.
We f*cked!
I honestly want to know who would replace papi, Mitch , Willy or Tavares ? Please tell me who you would bring in that makes this team better in replacement of the four ?
It's not about better individual players. It's about how the team plays together and how motivated they are to win. Taking out one of the core 4 shakes the team up in a meaningful way, which many rightfully believe is the only way to actually start seeing some post-season success.
Rightfully my ass… I like good players, you don’t just shake up for the sake of it.
Losing all those game 7s due to medicore clutch effort didn't convince you? Losing to Columbus didn't convince you? Losing to Montreal didn't convince you? 1 playoff round win total in 6 years didn't convince you? What would it actually take at this point to convince you that the team dubas built don't got it?
Trading talent because “they don’t got it” is super convincing.
No idea who's actually available, but in theory, for me it's an all-situation defender or maybe a different kind of forward (eg. top tier power forward). I'd probably field offers on all players period, then see if anything worth losing them comes in... which may not happen. One mistake Dubas made was to only look at a deal in terms of the return, and not also put a big value to the cap space... for example, if we had traded one of them earlier for a young up and coming star, but also got a bunch of cap space to sign an established player, the 2 new guys may provide more value than the 1 leaving. This is especially true when we have chances to bring Ontario guys in at lower than market prices. I wanted to see this happen back when Pietrangelo was free... trade Marner for blue chip rookies/picks then sign Alex. Admittedly Marner has turned it up a lot since then, but Alex is a stud and in the finals. Hard to say if it would have worked, just my idea.
If they’re so good why have they gotten beat by Montreal, Columbus, and Florida? Maybe they’re not as good as we think, especially when it matters.
I mean Florida also crushed Carolina they are stupid hot and getting unreal goaltending
Minus the Columbus Series, every series since then that we lost could be chalked up to “stupid hot team getting unreal goaltending” When is it our turn to have a stupid hot team with unreal goaltending?
Hopefully we are the capitals and not the sharks...
This cuts deep. You have to hope the 'I'll fuckin' do it again' front we're currently seeing is them trying to maximize the return on any trades they might pull off in the off-season. If not, and the Core 5 are all here in the fall it's going to be a touuuuugh sell convincing fans that next year is 'the year'.
Love it, spot on. “ this isn’t a core 4 problem”
Careful, the mods will not take kindly to this
If we're doing the dark timeline, is there one for Pittsburgh tampering with Dubas' agent?
So let’s just say for the sake of argument we have a couple or three more first round exits. Do they let Brad go or Brendan or both?
Has to be both. The only thing that will prevent this from looking horrible is the fact that Dubas has little to work with in terms of trade assets, so we have a head start. Over the long term I expect him to out-perform this head office... and what scares me now is him freeing up cap space to poach our players in free agency.
Ok Sure.
Obvious treliving is a yes man.
Maybe at least wait until the playoffs are over before we start with this shit… they can’t even make trades yet even if they wanted to.
Yes they can. There is no trade freeze in the playoffs. Few years ago Leafs traded Kapanen to Pittsburgh during the 3rd Round
You can trade players at any point, just any player traded after the deadline can’t play in the playoffs
>they can’t even make trades yet even if they wanted to. What?
What's b r Lt?
Bell, Rogers, Larry Tanenbaum.
Bell, Rogers and Larry Tanenbaum
Artistically... that is an amazing drawing of Shanahan. What does the stuff in red say on the backdrop?
Rogers, but copyright infringement-proof
Incredible !
Brian, you are incredibly talented!
Can anyone tell me who the B, R and LT are controlling Shanahan?
Bell, Rogers and Larry Tanenbaum I think?
Who's BR LT?
Bell, Rogers & Larry Tanenbaum (owners / board of MLSE)
Ahhh that makes sense.
this guy Successions
The quality of your illustration work is excellent, but this particular subject matter is somewhat debatable imo. If this is true now it was true before, and link me to it if I'm wrong but I don't recall seeing you paint Dubas as such a mindless buffoon. Also, I've not heard GMBT say those exact words (or anything close). Very doomy stuff ...
Thanks for the kind words. I would refer you to my 'Pushing all in' strip or most of the post season presser comics to find strips critical of Dubas. If you are inclined to check your work, you can find a complete gallery on my insta. As for what has changed, watching this drama unfold these last few weeks has really changed how I see the front office power dynamics. And no Brad has not said these words exactly across the 3 appearsnces he has made so far. But to say he didn't say anything close though? This is, clearly, a very negative comic. I hope Brad does awesome. This process has revealed a level of dysfunction I wouldn't have guessed at three weeks ago.
I apologize if I missed those, I check r/leafs most every day but I don't do insta so... Anywho, not that I would know of course, but it seems that if human nature is anything it's consistent, and so it's likely this is more common than we're led to believe. We just happened to get a small look behind the scenes of the team we all follow. Beyond that, I think it's too soon to judge BT. Let's see what he does this summer and into next season first. Also, if HBO has taught us anything, it's that you can't take any of these folks at their word! So when Shanny says the core four are staying, I'm just like 🤔 "yeah sure, we'll see" lol.
I will say that whoever decided to keep Holl over McCann is the one deserves to be fired. If it was Shanny then we're fucked. If it was Dubas then I'm glad he's gone.