Dwayne De Rosario has made no secret of his unhappiness with his current contract. ((Darryl Dyck/Canadian Press))

It’s shaping up to be one the most important off-seasons ever for Toronto FC.

Having fired general manager Mo Johnston and coach Preki, club management must find full-time replacements for those key positions, as well as make critical roster decisions to ensure the team has a shot at securing its first-ever playoff berth next year.

On top of that, one of the more interesting problems that might have to be addressed in the coming months by Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment, the club’s owner, is whether to give captain Dwayne De Rosario a raise.

De Rosario, 32, is midway through a four-year contract that paid him $443,750 US this season, the third-highest wage on the team behind fellow Canadian Julian de Guzman ($1,717,546 US) and Spanish forward Mista ($987,3370 US).

Last month De Rosario publicly stated he wasn’t happy with his salary, and went so far as to celebrate a goal he scored in a game against San Jose by mockingly signing a cheque. He was sending a clear message to team management that he wanted to renegotiate his contract.

Tom Anselmi, chief operating officer of MLSE, responded by saying he had already told De Rosario's agent they would talk after the season ended.

Under contract

Now that TFC’s season is over, does management plan to talk with De Rosario about a new contract? Anselmi said that’s up to interim GM Earl Cochrane to decide, but the MLSE executive made it sound as though renegotiations aren’t imminent.

"If Dwayne and his agent want to talk us, we’re always open to talk. Dwayne is our captain and he’s an important player here and he’s a Torontonian, but he’s also under contract," Anselmi told CBCSports.ca on Tuesday.

"I’ll leave it to Earl to decide whether there’s anything to renegotiate, but at the end of the day you have a player who has a contract that we opened up when we traded for him. I’m not sure we really see renegotiating as something that is pending."

Cochrane said he hasn’t spoken with De Rosario about the situation.

"In the end, we’re going to have to assess what is best for this club as we move forward and make our decisions accordingly," Cochrane said.

De Rosario remained tight-lipped on the issue.

"I can’t speak about that right now," he replied when asked about the possibility of contract renegotiations, but did say he plans to be back with TFC in 2011.

It’ll be interesting to see what De Rosario’s move would be if MLSE decided not to give him a higher-paying deal and hold him to the terms of his current contract.

Since joining the club via a trade with Houston in 2009, De Rosario has firmly established himself as Toronto FC’s franchise player. His 26 goals rank him as the team’s all-time leading scorer, he helped Toronto win back-to-back Canadian club championships in 2009 and 2010 and he was named the club’s MVP last year.

He further underlined his worth this year when he scored 15 of his team’s 33 goals and was one of the few bright spots on a club that failed to make the playoffs for a fourth consecutive season.

De Rosario is, without question, Toronto FC ‘s most important player and it’s hard to imagine the team being able to turn around its fortunes without him as a key contributor.

"Dwayne’s a valuable piece of this club," stated Cochrane. But whether Cochrane feels obliged to give De Rosario a pay hike remains to be seen.