"Doan was originally hired by Treliving to join Leafs management back in 2023. The 49-year-old former Arizona Coyote also happened to be one of Auston Matthews' favourite players growing up, as they eventually grew to know each other even more over the years in his hockey journey. So having Doan as part of the Maple Leafs organization could potentially help solidify Matthews' stance to play at his best with Toronto going forward."
"Doan's tenure with his new club would get off to an amazing start as Toronto had one of their best seasons in years in 2024-25 when they finished atop of the Atlantic Division and made it once again all the way to the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. However, the Maple Leafs would quickly follow that up with one of their most dreadful performances in years as well in 2025-26, putting many of the roles at the management level in doubt as a result."
"But more surprisingly is the fact that Doan had actually previously worked with current Leafs GM Chayka during their time with the Coyotes, with Chayka being Arizona's GM between 2016-2020 and Doan working as the team's Chief Hockey Development Officer from 2021-2023. So one would have expected"
Toronto Maple Leafs made major front-office changes following a disappointing 2025-26 season. The team had already hired John Chayka as GM and Mats Sundin as Senior Executive Advisor. The Leafs then mutually parted ways with Special Advisor to the GM Shane Doan, who had been hired in 2023 by former GM Brad Treliving. Doan previously contributed during a strong 2024-25 run that saw Toronto finish first in the Atlantic Division and reach the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Doan also had a personal connection to Auston Matthews and had worked with Chayka earlier in Arizona, where Chayka served as GM and Doan held a development role.
Read at Editor In Leaf
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]