It is becoming painfully obvious that the Leafs need to make some serious changes to prevent this lost season from spiraling into another dark age for the franchise. The amount of damage that Treliving and head coach Craig Berube have done to the organization in such a short amount of time is shocking, and fans are quickly losing faith that the two of them will be able to get the Leafs out of it. Not when the GM was too indecisive for months and didn’t execute on his deadline goals, or when the coach is out of answers and places the blame on the players instead of making smarter adjustments with the lineup.
If the Leafs want to get the ship back on track and make the 2025-26 campaign an outlier instead of the start of a downward trend, there is a three-step plan that they should aim to execute in the weeks and months ahead.
Step 1: Find a new GM and head coach
This is something that the Leafs should have done back in late November when things started to unravel, or back in December when they fired Marc Savard as a scapegoat. But the Leafs are not going to do themselves any favours the longer they hold onto Berube and Treliving, which is why letting go of them both has to be the first step of their turnaround. The issues plaguing this team have only gotten worse to the point that the Leafs found themselves as sellers at the deadline for the first time in a decade. The fact that they are in this position less than a year after winning the Atlantic Division and having their deepest playoff run since 2002 is quite the revelation, and it’s hard to envision things improving next season if they stay the course with their current GM and coach.
As far as who should be the replacements, it’s hard to say at this juncture since we don’t know who will become available to be GM and head coach. They could look at someone in-house to fill the void, like Derek Lalonde as head coach or Brandon Pridham as GM, or they could look at hiring more established options who could be up for grabs. There have been rumours suggesting Doug Armstrong could be lured to Toronto since he would like to continue being a GM despite moving up to be the St. Louis Blues president after this season. Pete DeBoer has remained available all season long and could be a good change of pace if he is convinced to coach the Leafs. There are plenty of young and experienced options the Leafs could consider for both roles, but the goal is to find someone who will have a better long-term plan and a better coaching system to get this team back on track.
Step 2: Consider moving anyone not named Matthews, Nylander, or Tavares
One thing that Treliving did correctly leading up to the deadline was listen in on just about anyone on the roster, apart from the cornerstone pieces in Auston Matthews, William Nylander, and John Tavares. What he didn’t do was go deep enough in the weeds at selling off more parts of the roster, and this is what should be the primary focus of the early days of the next GM’s tenure in charge. It’s not to say that they need to trade away everyone to start over, but they shouldn’t be afraid to move pieces off the roster so they can get back assets that will further restock the cupboard.
Getting a proper sense of what the value is on the players that could fetch back a solid return and then make deals is going to be paramount to making this a successful retool. This means exploring the market for guys like Brandon Carlo, Max Domi, Anthony Stolarz, and Simon Benoit, all of whom likely won’t be long-term options for the team at this current juncture. It also means looking to offset a Morgan Rielly, who has struggled mightily from a defensive standpoint and his time in Toronto feels like it’s coming to an end. While they shouldn’t be quick to move off some of their younger guys like Matthew Knies or Easton Cowan, they should be comfortable having a conversation with teams about them and only move off of said players if it’s an offer they can’t refuse.
It would be in their best interest to dangle just about everyone who has term remaining on their contracts because those are the players who may be able to bring back plenty of assets like draft picks and prospects. Not everyone has to be moved because they will still need to ice a competitive roster, but getting the cupboard filled up has to be a primary goal in the offseason. The reality is that even after the three moves the Leafs have made at the deadline, they don’t currently possess a pick in the first and second rounds, so they would be wise to get at least one pick back in each round for this year. Their prospect system also leaves a lot to be desired, with no major pieces that are on the verge of making the jump to help bring reinforcement. Improving the farm system would do wonders for the long-term health of the team, especially if they wish to maximize their chances with Matthews, Nylander, and Tavares in the fold.
Step 3: Use some of the assets to bring in established players
This will no doubt be the trickiest part of the plan since it is all dependent on how much they get done leading up to the buying phase, but this is their only path to get meaningful improvements. The Leafs do need to improve their prospect pool – as mentioned in the previous section – but they also need to be mindful of the fact that most of these prospects they add won’t be able to jump in and help the team right away. They could look to free agency to address their needs, but the market is drying up fast and there will be slim pickings for them and the rest of the league.
All that is left are trades, which shouldn’t be difficult to manage from a cap perspective since they have over $10 million to work with currently and that could increase in the weeks ahead. The Leafs have a lot of needs to address this summer, but the big three are a top-six centre, a top-six winger, and improvements to the blueline. They could circle back on Robert Thomas to address their needs down the middle since reports emerged that they kicked tires on him leading up to the deadline. Jason Robertson could be made available if he isn’t able to get a deal with the Dallas Stars, making him an ideal target to add a winger up top. Colton Parayko’s name had made the rounds leading up to the deadline and the Blues may opt to try again in the summer, making him someone the Leafs could look at.
It is far from an exhaustive list, but the point is that there would be plenty of players the Leafs could make an aggressive push towards if they can get enough back in the prior trades. This will go a long way in making the team significantly stronger from a roster construction standpoint, since it was something Treliving outlined as part of their failings this season. Of course, it should be someone else making said moves while being aligned with the system that the new coach wants to implement. If they can play their cards right with the replacement hires, move some of their roster players, and use the assets acquired to bring in immediate help, it would go a long way to getting the Leafs out of the mess and back to contention in short order.