There’s one thing you have to know about Keith Pelley, president and CEO of Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment (MLSE): he’s spent his life in the communications world. He understands the power of messaging and the impact of spin.
Whether it’s been as an executive with TSN, the team president and CEO of the Canadian Football League’s Toronto Argonauts, the president of Rogers Media, or the commissioner and CEO of the PGA’s European Tour, Pelley has made a career out of rising through the ranks and thriving in the public eye, always managing the message in benefit of his employer.
But for the past 13 months, Pelley has been dealing with his biggest challenge yet – serving as the head of MLSE as it focuses on the NHL’s Toronto Maple Leafs and NBA’s Toronto Raptors. And while he stayed relatively quiet in his first year running MLSE, Pelley moved fully into the spotlight this week when he orchestrated the exit of now-former Maple Leafs president Brendan Shanahan, putting himself in the crosshairs of frustrated Leafs fans who just endured another painful Buds collapse in the Stanley Cup playoffs.
There was always a sense that Shanahan was going to lose his job if the Maple Leafs didn’t get at least as far as the Eastern Conference final this year, so it wasn’t a surprise to see Pelley on a podium Friday, explaining his choice to let Shanahan go. That said, Pelley now understands full well that his neck is on the line.
Yes, he said all the right things at Friday’s press conference, but in choosing not to name a replacement for Shanahan as Leafs president, Pelley has become the ultimate target for disgruntled Leafs fans – especially now that it’s possible, if not probable, that Toronto will part ways with star right winger Mitch Marner when he becomes a UFA on July 1.
Now, moving on from Marner could be the right move for the Leafs, in the same way that the Florida Panthers traded left winger Jonathan Huberdeau before Florida won a Cup. And the hints that Pelley dropped about Leafs coach Craig Berube getting more of a say in roster moves also indicates that Toronto’s way of doing business will differ from the Shanahan Era. But what if Pelley believes that the right move would be to re-sign Marner? That may be the most unpopular decision Pelley makes at this point in his tenure.
Moreover, will Pelley throw money at the UFA player du jour this summer, or will he decide to wait to use the Leafs’ cap space until 2026, when a far deeper group of UFAs hits the market? For every choice and crossroad that’s out there for Toronto, there’s an alternative that could be fraught with as much potential danger and disappointment as any option. But the path forward for the Leafs is now Pelley’s to decide, and being Toronto’s final voice of authority could be a lonely place to be for him.
In the 1970s and 80s, it was never unclear where the buck stopped for the Leafs. For better or worse – and it was almost always for worse – the curmudgeonly Harold Ballard earned his place as one of the most hated sports figures in Toronto’s history by bungling every key decision he made for the team.
But as Leafs ownership moved down the road to corporate control, finding a figure to direct hatred at has become more difficult for Buds fans thoroughly exhausted by all the excuses for Toronto’s failures. Shanahan did many good things for the Leafs, but after 11 years on the job, and despite his Cup-winning pedigree, Shanahan eventually felt the wrath of Maple Leafs fans, just as everyone did before him.
And now, that target for Leafs fans has moved squarely in the middle of Pelley’s shoulders. He’s firmly on the clock, and his every move is going to be hyper-analyzed until such time as either the Leafs eventually win a championship, or until public sentiment and Leafs ownership decides it’s time for a different corporate voice to replace him.
'The Coach Has To Be Involved More': Why MLSE CEO Keith Pelley Wants Maple Leafs Coach Craig Berube To Have More Say In Key Decisions
Hours after Toronto Maple Leafs president Brendan Shanahan's dismissal, Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment president and CEO Keith Pelley had dinner with head coach Craig Berube.
Pelley comes into this new era with the best intentions, but it’s not as if any of his predecessors in the Leafs’ power pyramid took the job with the desire to do harm. The problem for Pelley is how to get from Point A – where the Maple Leafs are right now – to Point B, which is celebrating the organization’s first Cup win since 1967.
There’s a reality where a Cup win finally happens for Toronto, but there’s also a reality where the playoff losing continues – and if that’s what happens, Pelley’s terrific career background won’t spare him from feeling the heat from Leafs fans.
Many hockey minds have believed themselves capable of delivering a Cup to Toronto, but for one reason or another, they’ve failed. And for the foreseeable days to come, Pelley is going to be doing his utmost to avoid joining Shanahan in Leafs history as another smart person who couldn’t get the job done.
He began his era in earnest at Friday’s press conference, but the toughest days are still ahead for Pelley. And only time will tell whether he makes the appropriate decisions for the Leafs’ future.
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