News Article: Shanahan was unaware of agreement for Lamoriello to talk to Tavares (NY Post)

[htpwn]

The owners had an agreement. There is no tampering.

Yup.

The first time I read it, I made the assumption that only Islanders ownership gave that approval. But reading it again, it definitely seems to imply that Tanenbaum got involved. Also... keep in mind that, when the meeting between Tavares and Lou was first reported, Friedman said the NHL was "fine" with it. I assume the NHL would be hearing from the Leafs if they weren't.

If that is indeed how it went down, then it raises another issue: Larry Tanenbaum stuck his nose in where he shouldn't have. The press should roast him over this. Tanenbaum might be the owner, but this Brendan Shanahan's ship and he's supposed to have the autonomy to make these kinds of decisions.

 

[rent free]

How is it tampering by the Leafs? Lou was talking to JT about staying in LI, not trying to recruit him to Toronto. No tampering.

it isn't. i was just saying that because it annoyed me how incorrect that was. and yes i know what i said was incorrect as well

 

[ShaneFalco]

It makes no sense if the owners allowed Lou to speak to JT if the Leafs have even the slightest bit of interest in him. Even then, or if they had no interest in him at all, why would they interfere?

 

[phillipmike]

When Lou was announced as Isles President he went on Overdrive and PTS and said that Isles Ownership approached Tannebaum twice. Other than Shanny not knowing i dont know why this is news. And Lou was just an adviser at that point - why would Shanny need to know? Shanny said countless times that regardless of who he picked he knew that he was losing the other 2 guys and Shanny wouldnt hold Lou back from this opportunity.

 

[nsleaf]

Whatever, this stuff makes my head spin.
If Lou keeps him in NY or JT decides he wants to come to TO, the Leafs are still the better team either way and have the brighter future. If JT wants a cup before his career ends TO would be as good a choice as most and definitely a better choice than staying with NYI. It's up to JT ultimately.

 

[glue]

When Lou was announced as Isles President he went on Overdrive and PTS and said that Isles Ownership approached Tannebaum twice. Other than Shanny not knowing i dont know why this is news. And Lou was just an adviser at that point - why would Shanny need to know? Shanny said countless times that regardless of who he picked he knew that he was losing the other 2 guys and Shanny wouldnt hold Lou back from this opportunity.

I think that’s the point. It would be like your manager’s manager (let’s say Director for ease purposes) was approached by another director from another department and wanted to hire you but nobody thought it necessary to inform your direct manager. That’s odd for sure.

 

[BoredBrandonPridham]

Pretty simple stuff here. Lou emailed Shanahan to ask permission as a formality. Lou received an immediate out of office reply from Shanahan saying he’s on vacation and to contact Larry for any urgent matters. So Lou asked Larry.

 

[hotpaws]

Yup.

The first time I read it, I made the assumption that only Islanders ownership gave that approval. But reading it again, it definitely seems to imply that Tanenbaum got involved. Also... keep in mind that, when the meeting between Tavares and Lou was first reported, Friedman said the NHL was "fine" with it. I assume the NHL would be hearing from the Leafs if they weren't.

If that is indeed how it went down, then it raises another issue: Larry Tanenbaum stuck his nose in where he shouldn't have. The press should roast him over this. Tanenbaum might be the owner, but this Brendan Shanahan's ship and he's supposed to have the autonomy to make these kinds of decisions.

No it's the owners ship and they can do as they please , we may not agree with it but that's a different issue and few if any employee's have full autonomy .

 

[Gallagbi]

probably not. why would lou want tavares to join toronto if he becomes the gm of the isles?

Because it's better than losing him to Toronto (or another team) for nothing.

In which the MLSE ownership group gave permission for Lou to do.

I expect permission to discuss a deal, not operate as a team rep immediatey. There's a big difference between those two.

it isn't. i was just saying that because it annoyed me how incorrect that was. and yes i know what i said was incorrect as well

Yours is incorrect, his is potentially true. Not sure tampering is the right word for it, but there's concerns over LouLam being under contract and presenting himself as another teams rep. Basically the Leafs paid him to work against them.

Big picture I don't think it matters or anyone will really care. Sounds like bad timing and a misjudgment by LouLam, but not much more. Possibly just poor communication too.

 

[therealkoho]

That's possible I guess. It still doesn't explain why our ownership groups would allow Lou to talk to Tavares and cut Shanahan out of the loop, must makes no sense at all to me.

nor I

 

[nobody]

I think this is how it played out.
Malkin and Co.: "Hey Larry, can we have a quick chat with Lou? We know you're probably not going to bring him back as your GM and we were wondering if he's interested in joining our front office"
LT: "sure"
---------------------
Malkin and Co.: "hey Lou, wanna come run the ship in long island?"
Lou: "tempting but no thanks, you have too many moving parts"
Malkin and Co.: "we're going to lose our top player in Tavares because of our moron GM and we are desperate for help. We'll give you the same deal that Toronto is giving you and more. Save us."
Lou: "let me see if Tavares plans on staying if I come fix things"
*Talks to Tavares*
Malkin and Co.: "okay, you can talk to him and see if him willing to commit will make you change your mind and join the team"
Lou: "Tavares said, he's willing to stay if the team shows a clear direction and Snow doesn't get to call the shots"
Malkin and Co.: "done"
----------------------
TO Media: "hey Shanny, did you give Lou permission to talk to the Isles"
Shanny: "sure did (His boss LT did)"
TO Media: "did you know he was talking to Tavares before deciding whether or not he would actually join the Isles"
Shanny: "nope"

TO Media: Shannahan unaware of agreement for Lou to talk to Tavares - NY Post
HFB: "Oh hey look, something Leafs related, let's all shit on them! YEA!"
Leafs fans: "who gives a shit, that's just lou being lou"
Idiot Leafs fans: "WE WANT JUSTICE!"
Asinine Leafs fans: "It's the LEAFS who tampered, not the Isles! AHHHHA!"


The end.

 

[WillyFirstofhisName]

Whatever, this stuff makes my head spin.
If Lou keeps him in NY or JT decides he wants to come to TO, the Leafs are still the better team either way and have the brighter future. If JT wants a cup before his career ends TO would be as good a choice as most and definitely a better choice than staying with NYI. It's up to JT ultimately.

Pretty much this. I refuse to believe an NHL player at this point in his career can be so easily swindled into doing something against his own interests, unless Lou were to give him an offer he can't refuse.

 

[crump]

I'm just spitballing here but, perhaps this is Lou's parting gift to the Leafs. Islanders know Tavares is going to walk, so let Lou try to orchestrate a deal that works for both teams before free agency. So instead of giving up a pick to talk to Tavares pre-UFA, Isles get Lou and his connections with the Leafs to get the best return they can.

NHL and the union would both go berserk if true.

 

[Stephen]

When Lou was announced as Isles President he went on Overdrive and PTS and said that Isles Ownership approached Tannebaum twice. Other than Shanny not knowing i dont know why this is news. And Lou was just an adviser at that point - why would Shanny need to know? Shanny said countless times that regardless of who he picked he knew that he was losing the other 2 guys and Shanny wouldnt hold Lou back from this opportunity.

Cause if you understood chain of command, everything hockey should be funneled through to Shanahan, and then from Shanahan to the owners.

My concern here is now the Shanahan/ownership relationship might have some issues.

 

[LeafFever]

When Lou was announced as Isles President he went on Overdrive and PTS and said that Isles Ownership approached Tannebaum twice. Other than Shanny not knowing i dont know why this is news. And Lou was just an adviser at that point - why would Shanny need to know? Shanny said countless times that regardless of who he picked he knew that he was losing the other 2 guys and Shanny wouldnt hold Lou back from this opportunity.

Lou said that but it stil does not explain him speaking to Tavares before he officially works as a member of the Isles. Tannenbaum was asked if he can speak to Lou about working for them.

 

[Mess]

Sounds like Lou just did whatever the heck he wanted to. And if I'm MLSE, I'd make the Islanders pay. Dearly.

To me Lou meeting with JT on behalf of the Isles organization tells me Leafs have no real plans to pursue Tavares as a UFA because then it would be a much bigger story and Shanny would be upset.

If Leafs have no interest in JT then its no harm and no foul situation and Lou didn't do anything that would upset Leafs organization.

 

[diceman934]

Why would our ownership allow Lou to talk to Tavares and not inform the guys running our team? I don't get this all, it's either the biggest WTF I've seen in some time or I didn't get enough sleep last night (also possible).

It really is simple. Lou was removed from his position of GM so he was free to seek employment elsewhere and did. He was offered the senior adviser role but wanted to be a GM still as he got removed like I said and it was not a simple succession plan like everyone on here wanted to believe. He either had it in his contract about being allowed to seek employment elsewhere or got permission from Shanny which I believe the permission was in his contact. Contracts in the NHL usually go to July 1st and he effectively got fired.

He had permission to seek employment Likely without needing permission from The Leafs leaving him free to do what ever he wanted to do.

One more point he was not at the press conference announcement when Dubas was given him job, I believe it was because he exercised his rights in his contract to seek another job without needing the consent of the Leafs. If I am correct nothing happened that was wrong and even if he only had permission to talk to the islanders about a job there is nothing stopping him from talking to any person from the Islanders unless it was expressed that he only had permission to talk to management/owner.

 

[Gary Nylund]

It really is simple. Lou was removed from his position of GM so he was free to seek employment elsewhere and did. He was offered the senior adviser role but wanted to be a GM still as he got removed like I said and it was not a simple succession plan like everyone on here wanted to believe. He either had it in his contract about being allowed to seek employment elsewhere or got permission from Shanny which I believe the permission was in his contact. Contracts in the NHL usually go to July 1st and he effectively got fired.

He had permission to seek employment Likely without needing permission from The Leafs leaving him free to do what ever he wanted to do.

One more point he was not at the press conference announcement when Dubas was given him job, I believe it was because he exercised his rights in his contract to seek another job without needing the consent of the Leafs. If I am correct nothing happened that was wrong and even if he only had permission to talk to the islanders about a job there is nothing stopping him from talking to any person from the Islanders unless it was expressed that he only had permission to talk to management/owner.

Sure, there are a few scenarios like that but what doesn't make sense to me at all is that Shanahan would be out of the loop. He hired Lou, why would the board go behind his back to make some other deals with Lou? Shanahan is the guy who's supposedly running things, he's doing a great job so why cut him out like that?

Maybe I'm missing something here I dunno. At this point, I think this Post article might just be wrong.

 

[LeafFever]

I really doubt Tavares signs with the Islanders because they added a 76 year-old GM who won't be around when that arena opens.

 

[jaric1862]

Im sure Shanahan knew that Lou was talking to Tavares, i mean he would of told Shanahan his intentions prior to actually taking the job. This is simply Shanahan so this publicly to cover the leafs rear ends to ensure that there are no tampering penalties from the league

 

[diceman934]

Sure, there are a few scenarios like that but what doesn't make sense to me at all is that Shanahan would be out of the loop. He hired Lou, why would the board go behind his back to make some other deals with Lou? Shanahan is the guy who's supposedly running things, he's doing a great job so why cut him out like that?

Maybe I'm missing something here I dunno. At this point, I think this Post article might just be wrong.

I think you are making this far to complicated Lou had permission to talk with the Islanders or he did not need it. Then the fact that J.T. is an islander he can talk to anyone on the Islanders. It seems it is much ado about nothing to me.

Shanny was not out of the loop and why would Lou if he needed permission to talk to the Islanders need specific permission to talk with a player. Now if he talked to J.T. to come to the Leafs that sure would be tampering. He had permission from the owner to talk with J.T.

 

[DarkKnight]

My head hurts.

 

[The Iceman]

2 thoughts. It is Lou so he can get away with anything.
We had to give up a draft pick to get Lou. Would be real nice to get one back for tampering.

 

[Superstar]

Team governor said it was okay. It's been widely reported that Tanenbaum gave consent.

That's strange...okay for what? If Lou was still employed by the Leafs, he shouldn't be talking to Tavares...did Tanenbaum screwed up, wasn't aware of what tampering is and thought Lou was acting in the interest of the Leafs to woo Tavares here?

Oh boy.

 

[Superstar]

Im sure Shanahan knew that Lou was talking to Tavares, i mean he would of told Shanahan his intentions prior to actually taking the job. This is simply Shanahan so this publicly to cover the leafs rear ends to ensure that there are no tampering penalties from the league

I don't think Lou would have acted in the interest of the Leafs (ie. Shanahan) when he's becoming the new hockey boss of the Isles, equivalent to Shanny's role here.