NHL.com made some changes to the rules surround harvesting of data from its site, which ES uses. Maybe NHL.com purchases ES, or gets the right to use it, and interagrates ES to be a one stop shop for stats.
Cant see the motivation behind the TML shutting down ES for good, as similiar stats are available on BTN.
I can see why they shut down Charrons blog posts, similar to the Oilers with Dellow, as that has detailed work regarding team faults available to anyone or any team.
I dont think ES will be shut down for good. Also, seeing the growing popularity of advanced stats, I could see investments made to upgrade BTN, or create a similar site