Leafs GM Treliving admits ‘different position’ team is in

Article content

If the Maple Leafs have enough in their core of players for the Stanley Cup window to be open years into the future, general manager Brad Treliving wouldn’t say as much on Thursday afternoon.

Article content

During an interview on TSN 1050’s OverDrive, Treliving, on the hot seat in as the Leafs’ season spins out of control, was asked about the Cup window and told hosts Bryan Hayes, Jeff O’Neill and Jamie McLennan that “we’ve got some really good players (and) I believe in our players.”

Article content

Article content

But …

“I’m not going to be sitting here making profound statements or doing an autopsy on the team,” Treliving said. “We’re certainly not in a position that we want to be in.

“The top end of our lineup, Willie (Nylander) has been out for a while, battling an injury, but every team has (injury issues).

“We have to continue to watch, evaluate and make the necessary decisions. You’ve got a (National Hockey League trade) deadline coming up (on March 6) that forces decisions.”

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

Play Video

Selling, buying, or nothing?

Treliving didn’t say whether he would be a seller or a buyer at the deadline, or watch it pass by without so much as a whimper, but the impending decision clearly is on his mind.

Many on the public side, including here, think the Leafs should be sellers given their spot in the standings — eight points out of a playoff position before the game in Seattle against the Kraken on Thursday night.

Article content

Article content

Perhaps Treliving will come to the same conclusion once the four-game trip is over and the Leafs scatter for the Olympic break.

Even four wins by the Leafs, which no one expects, wouldn’t be enough to get them into an Eastern Conference wild-card spot going into the break. There’s no way the teams around them in the standings, or those eight points up, are going to start losing every game.

Including Thursday, the Leafs have 10 games before the deadline.

Does Treliving have a timeline for determining his deadline plans?

“We’re very cognizant of where (we) sit in the standings, you’re looking at probabilities, you’re looking at schedules ahead of yourselves,” Treliving said. “The two years that I’ve been here, a number of years before, we’re spending a lot of assets. We’re in a different position than we’ve been in the past.

“You’re planning based upon where your team is sitting and what you think is in front of you.”

Other topics that came up in the conversation:

The disastrous five-game home stand, during which the Leafs went 0-4-1:

Article content

“Completely disappointed,” Treliving said. “We were flat in the first, came back against Minnesota (and lost 6-3 to the Wild).

“We had fits and starts throughout the home stand, but just not the consistency level that we needed to be against. It wasn’t good enough. We knew the critical point and juncture of the season that we’re in, and there’s no excuse for it.

“The manager can be pissed off, but all we can do right now is focus on the one that’s ahead of us.”

Maybe, just maybe, the Leafs lost because they’re not as good as their opponents. All five of the visiting teams are ahead of the Leafs in the overall standings. There’s not much of a mystery here.

What about the meeting between coach Craig Berube and the Leafs’ leadership group on Monday, only for the team to be crushed 7-4 by the Buffalo Sabres on Tuesday?

Treliving had a bit of a revealing answer, but not necessarily about the meeting itself and what was said. He got around to making another point about the home stand as a whole.

Article content

“Those (meetings) are preset,” Treliving said. “There’s regular meetings with the leadership group. This wasn’t a call to arms.

“The Buffalo game, at critical moments, it wasn’t good enough. There become certain times where you just have to find ways to win, and ultimately, we haven’t found ways to win. Things will get made about a players meeting, or coaches meeting with players, but we didn’t do enough good things in that game at critical moments to win.”

Treliving then mentioned the Leafs’ poor play last fall. Other than a couple of days earlier in January, they have not been in a playoff position since Nov. 7. And it’s not like the Leafs were lighting up the NHL before then.

“As critical as that home stand was, it was made more critical by what happened in October, November,” Treliving said. “You shortened your runway to give yourself room for error.

“When you put yourself behind the eight-ball in a real competitive division, in a real competitive conference, you’ve shortened your window for having rough stretches. When you skinned your knee enough in the first two months of the season, it makes it that much more profound.”

To sum up: The Leafs haven’t been good for the most part in 2025-26, and it’s not just the past five games that put them where they are now.

Article content

Following a story on the Leafs’ sport science staff published on Thursday by Jonas Siegel of the Athletic, Treliving pushed back:

Last summer, Rich Rotenberg, the Leafs’ director of high performance, departed the team and in title, was not replaced. Sports scientist Sachin Raina also left and like Rotenberg, now works for former Leafs GM Kyle Dubas in Pittsburgh with the Penguins.

Trevor Bartoli is listed now as the Leafs’ performance coordinator after he was the roving strength and conditioning coach last season.

“Rich Rotenberg … basically his duty was a coordinated position,” Treliving said. “We promoted somebody into that position to oversee and coordinate the daily job description and the daily duties of our medical staff. We’ve added more staff this year.

“The insinuation that we’ve cut back in any way, shape or form, in terms of the medical, the performance, or any of the care of our players, is simply incorrect. It’s wrong.

“I would put our medical team and the care that our players get amongst the very best, not only in the NHL, but in professional sports.”

Article content

The only Leafs to play in all 53 games prior to Thursday were centre John Tavares and defenceman Oliver Ekman-Larsson.

“You’re going to have injuries,” Treliving said. “From October 1 to January 28, from last year to this year, league-wide, it’s almost exactly 100 more players that have been placed on injured reserve this year than last year. It’s more of a result of a condensed schedule. It has nothing to do with medical attention. The medical care of our players has not, will not, and never will be, compromised.”

Does Treliving have the same budget he did before Keith Pelley took over as MLSE president and CEO in April 2024? The GM didn’t hesitate to answer.

“It’s increased since I’ve been here,” Treliving said. “The actual expenditure in terms of what we put into player performance, the individuals, the staff size, has increased.

“Our goal is to be as on the cutting edge of whatever new and innovative technology is out there. We’ve increased therapists, we’ve increased our strength and conditioning personnel and program. The success or the lack thereof that we’ve had so far this year is not an indication of anything to do with the medical staff.”

tkoshan@postmedia.com

X: @koshtorontosun

Article content