Shanahan was spotted in Grayson's TikTok after he was invited to Scotiabank Arena for his Auston Matthews hockey card costume.
Over the past week, a young Toronto Maple Leafs fan, Grayson, has gone viral for his Auston Matthews-inspired Halloween costume. With appearances on Breakfast Television, CTV, CBC News, and CP24 Breakfast, the Maple Leafs brought Grayson into a special behind-the-scenes experience at Scotiabank Arena on Thursday ahead of the Leafs’ matchup against the Seattle Kraken.
Grayson watched practice and the game that night with opportunities to meet Maple Leafs stars like Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, Morgan Rielly, and William Nylander, along with President Brendan Shanahan.
Grayson’s Dad, Grant, has been documented most of the day on TikTok and Instagram, capturing the excitement of his son’s visit with the club. On Friday, Grant posted a hilarious encounter between Shanahan, Grayson, and Nylander – where the President poked fun at Nylander’s contract.
The video started with Shanahan chatting with Grayson, jokingly discussing signing him to a contract.
“Are you 18 years old yet?” Shanahan teased, to which Grayson responded with a quick shake of his head.
“Are you 18 years old yet?” Shanahan asked. “No? How old are you, 19, 20?” Shanahan continued.
Grayson finally answered, “Seven.”
With that answer, Shanahan responded, “Okay, that means I’ve got to wait how many years until 18? 11.” Just then, Nylander, fresh off signing his eight-year, $92 million deal last season, happened to be walking by, sparking an idea for Shanahan’s next line.
Turning to Nylander, Shanahan joked, “This guy knows the No. 11. He knows it really well – $11.5 (million).”
It certainly was some quick on-the-spot humor, given Nylander’s seemingly perfectly timed cameo. Regardless, Grayson will always have a story to tell, perhaps even when he’s 18 and can fully understand just what ‘$11.5 million’ means.