Contract: 1 more season, $3.1 million AAV
Buyout Structure: 2 seasons at $433,334 and $533,334

Scoop: Yamamoto struggled through this season with a lingering neck issue that impacted his production and consistency, suffering from a whiplash-type of hit. At just 10 goals and 25 points, the Oilers can ill afford that little impact next year – particularly on the right side – at a $3.1 million cap hit. They can use the space better this summer. The preference, of course, would be to get a team to take a flier on rehabbing Yamamoto for no cost – as they did with Jesse Puljujarvi at the trade deadline. Short of that, it makes little sense to attach an asset to move him, not when the resulting cap hit from a buyout is approximately half of league minimum pay given that Yamamoto is just a one-third buyout because he is under age 26.

In ousting a GM who only won a single playoff series but also helped his team win its first playoff series in 19 years, Shanahan and the Leafs boxed themselves into somewhat of a corner. They had a team squarely in its contention window, with multiple stars in need of contract extensions and an extremely busy summer to-do list ahead. Another progressive, forward-thinking hire that could grow into the role simply wasn’t going to work. They forced themselves into needing a turnkey hire. During the presser, Shanahan essentially admitted that when he explained that experience “would be attractive” as a quality.

In an instant, Brad Treliving’s name shot to the top of every logical candidate list. Unlike fan-fiction option Doug Armstrong, Treliving was actually available, having just parted ways with the Calgary Flames. He had taken that team to a pair of division titles over his nine seasons with them. He of course had the relevant recent high-profile experience of making major roster overhauls involving superstars in a Canadian market and, despite Calgary’s poor showing this season, was perceived to have done extremely well in replacing Matthew Tkachuk and Johnny Gaudreau with Jonathan Huberdeau, MacKenzie Weegar and Nazem Kadri. Really, had the Flames gotten even average goaltending this season, they would’ve made the playoffs.

So Treliving steps into the job as the most sensible hire out there, especially when compared to the other options. The image-conscious Leafs were never going to touch Stan Bowman, and even Marc Bergevin would’ve raised some eyebrows, too. With so much at stake during their current contention window, they weren’t going to try a Jason Botterill redemption arc or crown a first-time GM such as Eric Tulsky. It had to be Treliving.

He has himself a new stretch of runway, albeit not nearly as long as what he had in Calgary. But the question now is: how much runway does Shanahan have left?

He theoretically will be bringing in a GM who will work within the confines of the MLSE and Shanahan influence when it comes to making roster decisions, something Dubas reportedly was tired of doing. But while Shahanan will have the final say over Treliving – it’s Treliving who will have the power over what happens to Shanahan next.