Shnaider has been consulting in recent weeks with investment bank-industry contacts about how much money it would take to pry the Leafs' parent company -- Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment -- away from its owners, say two sources familiar with the matter.

A spokesperson for the Russian-born Shnaider confirmed to the Toronto Star that he has "preliminary interest" in the sports holding company.

Shnaider has not yet contacted MLSE but has participated in meetings with investment banking officials. He has been accompanied at these meetings by former Maple Leafs forward Tie Domi, sources say. Domi and Shnaider have been friends for years and Domi may have insights into MLSE's hockey operations, the company's backbone.

Domi declined to comment.

The 39-year-old Shnaider is contemplating an offer at an interesting time.

Under terms of its shareholders' agreement, MLSE, whose owners include the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan board, TD Bank, CTV Globemedia, and real-estate tycoon Larry Tanenbaum, is required to periodically commission an independent valuation.

A recent report prepared for the company concluded MLSE is worth $1.5 billion thanks to a roster of assets which includes the Maple Leafs, Raptors, Toronto FC, the Air Canada Centre and digital channel Leafs TV.

There'd be a sense of irony to a Leafs team owned by a Russian -- even one who grew up in Canada from the age of 13. The Leafs' former owner Harold Ballard had such contempt for the Soviet Union that he wouldn't let its teams play in Maple Leaf Gardens.

After Team Canada was expelled from the 1987 World Junior Championship for brawling with Team U.S.S.R., Ballard paid for special medals to be made for the Canadians and presented them before a Leafs game.

And when the Soviets shot down a South Korean airliner in 1989 because it entered Soviet airspace without permission, Ballard -- who referred to Russians as "parasites and barnacles who steal our money" -- cancelled performances of the Moscow Circus, which had been scheduled to appear at the Gardens. He told friends that on a visit to the Soviet Union he had put a Maple Leaf sticker on Lenin's tomb.

Shnaider faces long odds in a bid to buy Canada's largest sports concern.

"Management has done an outstanding job with that company," said Brian Cooper, a Toronto-based sports marketer. "They've gone from a company with one team in a decrepit building and become a multi-brand giant with four teams, expertise in arena management, two TV networks and, now, a pair of condominium towers that they've already sold out."

Since MLSE is a private company, Shnaider would surely need to offer a premium. Even then, that might not be enough.

One investment banker who specializes in sports said Shnaider might have to offer as much as $1.75 billion to seriously attract the interest of Teachers, which has been MLSE's majority owner since 2003 with a 58 per cent stake. Rob Tilliss, a former senior banker with J.P. Morgan, said Shnaider might be able to borrow as much as $900 million toward a purchase, depending on his cash flow.

Several sports industry officials said MLSE's investors would probably consider a prospective offer.

"Teachers is going to look at every serious deal because they have a fiduciary responsibility to their constituents," Cooper said.

Moreover, the former Toronto Argonauts president said, Teachers might be enticed to cash in on its 13-year hockey investment.

"MLSE must be getting close to optimal value," Cooper says. "I don't see them making a lot more off sponsorships or ticketing. So the question is, do you hold onto the asset believing that down the road their two TV channels will significantly increase in value?"

Even with a sweetened offer, it's unclear whether MLSE's owners would want to cash out their investment.

Teachers' spokesperson Deborah Allan says the pension plan is unaware of Shnaider's interest.

While Allan declined to discuss the MLSE investment in detail, she said that when Teachers considers severing ties to any of its investments, "we look at things like re-investment risk. If we sell, we have cash that has to be re-invested somewhere else. And that opens us up to risk."

According to recent internal company documents, MLSE forecasts a profit in 2007 of $83 million on revenue of $383 million. By 2011, thanks in part to a new local broadcast contract that pays the team as much as $700,000 a game, the company expects to widen its profits to $105 million on revenue of $477 million.

Tanenbaum, meantime, owns 13 per cent of MLSE and has a right of first refusal on any shares that are sold.

That could block any outside bidder, Shnaider included, from pursuing a purchase no matter how much money was offered. Tanenbaum is out of the country and couldn't be reached for comment.

A self-professed sports junkie, Shnaider would seem to have the money needed to make a serious bid for MLSE.

In October, Forbes magazine estimated that the York University graduate had a net worth of $1.8 billion US. That placed him 14th -- tied with Quebec cheese magnate Lino Saputo and ahead of Research In Motion co-founders Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie -- on a list of 23 Canadian billionaires profiled by the magazine.

Shnaider is also working with Donald Trump to build a new condominium tower in downtown Toronto.

In December, Shnaider, who has made much of his fortune in the steel industry, bought a controlling stake in Israeli soccer club Maccabi Tel Aviv for about $17.3 million. He owned a Formula One team through his Toronto holding company Midland Group for two years before selling it in 1996 to Dutch sports carmaker Spyker for about $106.6 million (U.S.).

If Shnaider was able to gain control of MLSE, it could prove to be a tonic to reinvigorate the Maple Leafs' fortunes.

Teachers assumed majority ownership of MLSE in 2003 when supermarket tycoon Steve Stavro sold his interest in the company. But since then, it's been widely speculated that while the Teachers Pension Plan is committed to winning, it's more beholden to the company's bottom line.

"It'd definitely be a benefit to have just one owner," said sports marketer Roy Roedger. "You'd have a single mind and focus, and not a diluted number of agendas trying to run a team. It's hard to run anything by committee."

To be sure, if MLSE's owners were receptive to selling their interest, it would likely attract multiple offers.