BY Mike Rifkin
For the first time in a decade the Toronto Maple Leafs will miss the Stanley Cup Playoffs. With the failure of a season the Leafs have had there are always consequences, and those have already begun. Monday night the Leafs fired GM Brad Treliving, who was with the team just shy of three seasons. Now I do have two questions on the timing of the dismissal of Treliving. First, why not let him just finish the season? Is there harm in doing that, it’s not like the team is going anywhere and it’s not like the fanbase didn’t see it coming. The other question is this, if you knew you were going to fire him, why did you let him run the trade deadline? Asset management over the last two trade deadlines should be a reason Treliving is gone.
Treliving’s firing is a microcosm of what is wrong with the Maple Leafs as a whole. They have mangled what could’ve been a golden era for the franchise, who hasn’t won the Stanley Cup since 1967. After the firing of Treliving the Leafs would be going to their third GM since 2018. The Leafs have won a grand total of two playoff series over the last decade, now we can say it’s coaching or it’s roster management, but at what point is it on the players?
When Keith Pelley, CEO of MLSE spoke earlier this week he claimed that he envisions a “retool” as opposed to a rebuild because the Leafs already have “foundational pieces” in place. There are two foundational pieces the Leafs have in Auston Matthews and William Nylander, but outside of those two who else? Matthew Knies has eight less goals than he did last season (also a -23), Easton Cowan is 20, and still trying to find it, and can you really rely on John Tavares at age 36 to put up big numbers? Their blue line has also had issues, Chris Tanev is out for the season after core muscle surgery, he’s 36. Morgan Rielly is 32 and is not having a good season, Jake McCabe is also 32 and is having a decent season. Oliver Ekman-Larsson has probably been their best defenseman and he is 34. Here’s my point: how many of these guys would you classify as “foundational pieces”?
Now, back to why Treliving was let go, his asset management over the last two trade deadlines was brutal. Last trade deadline he acquired Defenseman Brandon Carlo from the rival Boston Bruins in exchange for Fraser Minten and a conditional first round pick (top five protected this year). Minten, is 21 years old and has 17 goals and 34 points for the Bruins this season, while playing in a bottom six role, oh and if the Leafs wind up with pick 6-16 that pick goes to Boston. Then there’s the Scott Laughton deals. The Leafs acquired Laughton from the Flyers for prospect Nikita Grebenkin and a 2027 first round pick (top 10 protected). Grebenkin has four goals and 14 points in 55 games for Philly. But the Leafs then flipped Laughton at this deadline to the LA Kings for a conditional third round pick, the condition being if LA makes the playoffs it becomes a second round pick. But here’s a really bad scenario for the Leafs, if they wind up with their own first round pick this year, meaning it’s in the top five, the first round pick going to Boston is in 2027 and is unprotected, and the 2028 first round pick goes to Philly also unprotected. Toronto made other deals as well : Bobby McMann to the Kraken and Nic Roy to the Avalanche all in exchange for draft capital. Now because the Leafs have given up so much over the years they have one of the worst farm systems in the NHL, which leads to a tough decision.
This past summer the Leafs lost Mitch Marner, and because they mishandled the situation they were lucky to get Nic Roy from Vegas. Now is the time whoever becomes the GM of the Leafs goes to Auston Matthews and ask where he wants to go in a trade. Yes, that’s going to be tough for Leafs fans to swallow, but at the end of the day it’s the right call for a few reasons. You cannot let Matthews, who has two years on his current deal to do what they did with Marner. Another factor is that a lot of big names who were going to be on the Free agency market have re-signed with their clubs. Matthews would’ve had a market regardless, but now there could be a lot more teams wanting his services. Another reason to move Matthews would be the division. Keith Pelley may not have seen the Sabres or Canadiens coming, but others did. Also Boston and Tampa aren’t going anywhere, oh and the two time defending champs are going to be back next year, as they were so banged up this season.
No matter who the President or GM are, I don’t think you can fix all of these issues in one summer. Keith Pelley is going to have to swallow his pride and allow whoever he hires to do what he thinks is best. And listen if they decide to move Matthews, and Nylander decides he didn’t sign up for it, trade him too. These guys won a grand total of two playoff series, and fell on their faces more times than not. From the core four to rock bottom.
MORE THOUGHTS ON THE SITUATION HERE :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MxQEYpA6kuQ
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