Heated rival among 3 teams who could land Brendan Shanahan after being fired by the Maple Leafs

When the Maple Leafs washed out against the Florida Panthers in embarrassing fashion in last season's playoffs, it was the straw that broke the camel's back for the organization, and the failure ultimately cost team president Brendan Shanahan his job.

Shanahan oversaw the rebuild in Toronto that brought the Leafs William Nylander, Mitch Marner, Auston Matthews through the draft and John Tavares through free agency.

Unfortunately, most of the other decisions that the team had made, including allowing Zach Hyman to walk for nothing and trading a 1st round pick (Seth Jarvis) to get out of the Patrick Marleau deal, were heavily frowned upon.

Now, currently working for the NHL's hockey operations department under deputy commissioner Bill Daly, Shanahan is rumoured to be interested in joining another NHL team.

Sportsnet's Nick Kypreos has identified 3 teams who could he interested in hiring Shanahan to run their hockey operations. One of them happens to be a direct rival to the Leafs.

While Shanahan may consider a team like the Chicago Blackhawks or the Nashville Predators, per Kypreos, the frontrunner here appears to be Atlantic Division rivals, the Buffalo Sabres.

The Sabres are a team very much still rebuilding and looking for ways to improve, and they are currently riding a 3-game win streak, en route to a 5-5-0 record in their last 10 games. The team could use some guidance from an experienced hockey mind, and Shanahan may top their list.

The Sabres might be a very desirable location for Shanahan as well, given the city's proximity to Toronto and Shanahan's hometown of Mimico, Ontario.

As Kypreos pointed out, though, if Shanahan does consider taking the job in Buffalo, he'll want the same autonomy he enjoyed during his time in Toronto, which means a lot of roster control without having to run his decisions through ownership.

It remains to be seen where the former Leafs executive ends up, but it does appear as though Buffalo is the frontrunner at this point.