MLSE CEO Keith Pelley clears the air around Maple Leafs' Craig Berube, GM Brad Treliving's future following Shanahan’s exit

On Friday afternoon, MLSE CEO Keith Pelley spoke to the media for the first time since the announcement that the organization would be moving on from Brendan Shanahan.

It marks the end of an 11-year era with the Hockey Hall of Famer leading the charge as president of hockey operations. The Maple Leafs, as we know, made the postseason in nine of those 11 seasons but managed to win just two playoff series in the process, resulting in plenty of disappointment and frustration.

With Shanahan's time in Toronto now over, many have wondered what other changes could be coming. Who will be the next president of hockey operations? Are general manager Brad Treliving and head coach Craig Berube safe?

Keith Pelley cleared the air around it all during his press conference on Friday afternoon. Sportsnet shared the clip with his comments on X (formerly Twitter).

"I have my utmost confidence in Brad and my utmost confidence in Craig. I'm not looking to replace Brendan. I'm looking to work closer with Brad and look and work closer with Craig. We will, just like in any other business, evaluate all facets of the organization in terms of how we utilize resources. We have all the resources here to be a championship team, but it's using the resources in the right way, and how we structure those utilization of resources could make the difference," Pelley said.

"And that's what we are; we will spend the next weeks looking at. I'm confident in Brad; I'm confident in Craig. I'm confident in the resources that we have. But I do believe that we, as the custodians of the biggest hockey brand in the world, have a responsibility to our fans, and that responsibility is winning championships, and we will do everything we possibly can and will not stop until we reach that goal." Pelley added.

Brad Treliving just completed his second season as GM of the Maple Leafs, while Craig Berube just finished his first season behind the bench in Toronto.

Keith Pelley was noncommittal on Mitch Marner's future with the team

The big question everyone is asking in regard to the team on the ice is what will happen with superstar Mitch Marner.

The 28-year-old is a pending UFA, having just played out the final season of the six-year, $65,408,000 contract extension signed with Toronto in 2019.

NHL insider David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period shared on X what Keith Pelley provided on Marner.

"Keith Pelley, when asked about Mitch Marner’s future as a Maple Leaf, said we’ll see how that develops/plays out in the coming weeks," Pagnotta wrote.

The writing seems to be on the wall in terms of Mitch Marner and the Toronto Maple Leafs' partnership. All signs point to him testing the open market come July 1.