Pelley, Shanahan, Treliving will attend Maple Leafs news conference

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The Maple Leafs will have all the big names in their executive branch in one room on Friday for media grilling, a rare situation in what should be a newsworthy event. 

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The fact that hot seat team president Brendan Shanahan will be with new Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment CEO Keith Pelley could be a positive sign for Shanahan’s future, as well as general manager Brad Treliving. The GM has only been on the job a year and is not in the firing line as much as Shanahan in his decade on the job that has produced one playoff series win and plenty of fan outrage after a loss Saturday to the Boston Bruins in the latest seven-game playoff series. 

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Head coach Sheldon Keefe could find himself paying the price for his five years at the helm of playoff struggles, with three days between Monday’s exit meetings with his players and this unusual gathering of Bay Street brass. The management availability was originally scheduled for Thursday, leaving more space now for a possible announcement on Keefe’s future and a cooling period.   

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Shanahan makes rare media appearances, usually just early and late in the season, his last major one almost a year ago when he fired GM Kyle Dubas with a detailed report of how their partnership ended and hired Treliving after he’d been let go by the Calgary Flames. 

Shanahan has a year to run on his contract. The 60-year-old Pelley, with an extensive sports and broadcast background, was expected to be a man of action in his new role after taking office April 1 and attending a Leafs event to share the criticism is a rarity. Tim Leiweke, before handing off the Leafs portfolio to Shanahan, was the last CEO to take an active role in team affairs. 

Pelley and Shanahan share Etobicoke roots in the city and Pelley knows well the place the Leafs hold in the hearts of Torontonians. 

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X: @sunhornby 

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