Brendan Shanahan on the Maple Leafs’ play under Craig Berube: “The big shift between this year and previous years is our play on the defensive side”

President Brendan Shanahan joined TSN’s Gino Reda to discuss the Maple Leafs’ start to the season, Mitch Marner’s expiring contract, Auston Matthews’ recent injury, the team’s performance under Craig Berube, and his own contractual status.

We aren’t going to ask about the details of the negotiations with Mitch Marner — you won’t give us that — but from a theoretical standpoint, are you now at the point where you say you say, “Let’s let the regular season and playoffs play out, see how Mitch does, and then make a decision about what to do?” 

Shanahan: I’ve learned you don’t comment on any of that type of stuff other than to say he is playing great hockey. He has been a great player for us for a long time.

Any time you have a guy who is that creative offensively and also not just one of your team’s best defensive players but one of the league’s best defensive players…  I am not surprised how he is playing, and we are just happy with the way he is playing.

I will leave it at that.

Auston Matthews is healthy now, but you can’t help but wonder what his situation is going forward. He had to go to Germany for treatment. Is this something that is lingering? Is it something that you’re monitoring? From a management level, how concerned are you about the situation? Are you comfortable that he is back to 100%?

Shanahan: First off, people have to understand — and I know our fans will appreciate — that there is a competitive (aspect). People watch TSN and want us to reveal how people are feeling. People have privacy around injuries. Teams do it not because they want to keep secrets but because there is a competitive disadvantage to revealing everything about all of your players all of the time.

As far as Auston goes, whether it is him or anybody on our team, we are always going to do everything that we can to give every player every opportunity to get better and feel better. There is nothing really unusual about it.

We are glad that he is back. We certainly missed him. He is a big part of our team. He would be the first to say that he was missing it and wanted to get back.

As far as helping facilitate some of the relationships he has in the medicine world with different practitioners around the world, we want to be on the cutting edge as well. If we have to help somebody see somebody, we just want to get the player healthy and back on the ice.

At this time last year, it was clear you wanted to see a shift in your team as far as the character — for lack of a better term, more “Shanny-like” hockey. 

Shanahan: I’d like them to be better than me, but thank you.

You were pretty successful. Now, 12 months later, Brad Treliving has brought in a number of different bodies. Craig Berube is behind the bench with a different philosophy. What is your assessment of where the team stands right now and your ability to compete and go deeper in the playoffs?

Shanahan: I do think a shift occurred last year with the team. It was a conscious shift by Brad and I. Brad and his staff added some people this offseason, including the coaching change that we made.

Look, Sheldon Keefe is a great coach. He is doing a great job in New Jersey. Sometimes, as we see in the NHL—and as we have seen with some recent teams—a new and fresh voice is what is needed. Craig felt like the right coach at the right time.

The big shift between this year and previous years is our play on the defensive side. If you really admire what Florida did, they weren’t known as a defensive team. They kind of made a collective decision as a group that they were going to be an outstanding defensive team. It got them a championship.

I think players go through different arcs throughout their careers. Sometimes, it is about the individuals you have on the team. Sometimes, it is about the individuals you have collectively coming together and making a decision to be better defensively.

I give Craig Berube and his staff a lot of credit for that, but I give our players a lot of credit. There is a long way to go, but so far, with the commitment on the defensive side of the puck and the goaltending we have been getting, knock on wood, we just want to keep getting better at that.

You were chatting with George Parros on your way out of the meetings today. Leafs fans will say that they get a sense that because the team is under a microscope, they get the short-end of the stick sometimes from the Department of Player Safety. Is it a feeling you share?

Shanahan: We all get mad when our guy gets suspended. We all do. Having done the job and knowing the integrity of George Parros, I know his integrity is not something you’d ever want to put into question.

He and I like to talk from time to time, especially because I have done the job. We like to talk about different things going on around the league and some of the decisions and thought processes.

It is always better when you wait a few days or a couple of weeks to get those out. You are a little calmer. He is a little calmer. At the end of the day, you always just want what is best for your team.

George is trying to do what is best for the league. I am just trying to do what is best for the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Our understanding is that you are in the final year of your six-year contract extension with the Maple Leafs. What does your future look like with the organization?

Shanahan: With players and with coaches, for good reason, there is focus on their contracts and when their contracts are expiring. If you go into that board room today, in any given year, there are 20-or-so guys who play their contracts out. It is different for management.

I am not the story. The focus isn’t on me. I am just going to continue to do the job every day I wake up, whether I am in the first year or the final year of my contract. I am always thinking about what I can do for the Maple Leafs. My commitment from the first day I got here — and my dream — was, “What can I do to help this team?”

That is where my focus is now. It is not on the future. It is not on the past. It is on what we can right now to get better, and how can I help?