- TSN’s Pierre LeBrun reports Shane Doan and the Maple Leafs are mutually parting ways
- Doan’s deal as special advisor was set to expire June 30 with John Chayka and Mats Sundin now running Toronto’s hockey ops
- Read below for the Doan-Chayka history and where the longtime Coyote could land next
Shane Doan’s three-year run with the Maple Leafs is over.
TSN’s Pierre LeBrun broke the news Monday that Doan and Toronto have mutually parted ways, with his contract as special advisor to the GM set to expire June 30 anyway.
Here’s how LeBrun framed it:
Brad Treliving originally brought Doan into the front office back in June of 2023, a few years after his 21-season Coyotes career wrapped up. He remains the franchise leader in just about every offensive category for the Arizona and Utah organization and finished his playing days with 1,540 regular-season NHL games.
The writing was on the wall once John Chayka was hired as Toronto’s new GM and Mats Sundin came aboard as a senior advisor.
Lance Hornby of the Toronto Sun confirmed the move from the team’s end:
Two senior advisors was always one too many, and the Doan-Chayka history made the call even cleaner.
Chayka and Doan briefly worked the Coyotes front office together back in 2017, when Chayka was the league’s youngest GM and decided not to bring Doan back for another year as a player. The infamous version of that story has the two meeting at a First Watch in Scottsdale, where Doan thought he was sitting down for a leadership chat and instead got told his playing days in the desert were done after 21 seasons. They have not been close since.
He won’t be on the open market long. The Canucks already asked Toronto for permission to interview him for their open GM job last month, and that conversation has already happened. Vancouver isn’t his only potential landing spot either.
Toronto isn’t done remodeling either. The Leafs won the draft lottery last week and are heading into the most consequential summer of the Auston Matthews era. Doan’s exit clears one more chair in the room.
