The Toronto Maple Leafs‘ general manager Brad Treliving finally met with the media for his end-of-season press conference. He started the availability by acknowledging the departure of Brendan Shanahan and how great their relationship was. He then gave a breakdown of how he felt the season went and what the organization did to build this team throughout the offseason and at the March 7 Trade Deadline.
Treliving also spoke about how he felt the 2024-25 season started when he hired head coach Craig Berube and how Berube changed the team’s style of play with his direct, heavy forecheck system. However, he said they need to take it a step further to give themselves the best chance to win—much like the Florida Panthers. Good news for Leafs Nation: he did confirm that he wants to get Matthew Knies signed before July 1 and said he remains hopeful it gets done before free agency begins.
With that, let’s get into the key takeaways from the press conference.
Treliving Breaks Down the Roster
With every end-of-season press conference, the GM always discusses what happened throughout the year. For Treliving, he felt it was important to break down the roster and where their priorities were last offseason. He started with the defence, saying that was his main focus. The Maple Leafs made a ton of changes on the blue line, adding Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Chris Tanev, Jani Hakanpää, and Philippe Myers in the summer before trading for Brandon Carlo at the deadline. He mentioned he wanted “a long, rangy blue line” and made sure to talk about how big of an impact they had on the team’s success. This is by far the best blue line Leafs Nation has seen since the early 2000s, and there’s no doubt they played a huge role in how good Toronto was.
The next focus was goaltending. Treliving said they feel they have “a good young developing goalie in Joe Woll,” but needed someone else to tandem with him, which is why they signed Anthony Stolarz. Together, they became arguably the best tandem in the NHL. They held down the fort when one was injured or struggling and kept the team in games all season. Lastly, the third priority was “supplement the forward group.” They wanted players who could fit their style and support the core. That led to signing Max Pacioretty and Steven Lorentz in free agency, then bringing in Scott Laughton at the deadline. All three fit very well into Berube’s structure and style of play.
Critical Moments Hurt the Maple Leafs
Treliving talked about what he felt hurt the Maple Leafs most, and it came down to “critical moments.” He said things like starting a series, closing out games, and closing out series are what teams need to excel in to win. He applied that idea to the Leafs’ playoff run. In Round 1 against the Ottawa Senators, they had a great start—winning Games 1 and 2 at home, then taking Game 3 on the road. The Senators won Game 4, and Treliving said of Game 5, “Poor in Game 5, we were poor in a critical game.” They bounced back in Game 6 to close out the series and moved on to face the Panthers in Round 2.
Again, he applied the idea to Round 2. He said they had a good start, but the biggest moment in the series was Game 3. They were up 3-1 and couldn’t close it out. They had a chance to push the defending champs to the brink but blew the lead and lost in overtime. After Florida tied the series 2-2, the Leafs followed it up with a terrible Game 5 performance. “We weren’t good enough in Game 5.” They ended up losing in Game 7 after another rough showing, and he said, “That series is going to stay with me for a long time.” During the question period, he was asked about Game 7 specifically, and his answer stood out.
Treliving felt the game was lost the moment Florida scored first. Leafs fans have seen this before—when Toronto falls behind early in a Game 7, they tense up and can’t recover. He acknowledged the team’s history in elimination games and said they have to find a way to win in those moments. That brought him to his biggest point: changing the DNA of the team.
Changing the Maple Leafs’ DNA
There are a lot of questions surrounding the futures of Mitch Marner and John Tavares. And now there are even more after Treliving said publicly that they’ll be looking to change the team’s DNA. He clarified that it doesn’t mean trading 20 players, but when he and his pro scouts meet, the focus will be on players who have the right mindset. “When it matters the most, you have to embrace it.”
The most telling thing he said came when he added, “keep getting the same result, the DNA needs to change.” That’s a clear sign that he and Berube are going to look at all options. Next season, the Leafs are going to look even more like their type of team than what we’ve seen so far in the Matthews era.
The Future of Marner & Tavares
The whole situation around their future is strange. Tavares has publicly said he wants to be a Maple Leaf for the rest of his career. Marner, on the other hand, has never said he wants to return. Treliving said when he spoke with Marner in his exit interview, he told him, “Let’s all take a step back and take a deep breath.” He confirmed he’ll be in touch with Marner’s camp and that they’ll work together to figure out what’s best for the Leafs. He also acknowledged that Marner has control of the situation—if he doesn’t want to come back, there’s nothing the team can do.
As for Tavares, Treliving said he’s a “huge John Tavares fan.” Could that be a sign that the team and player have already talked about an extension? Maybe. He also mentioned that there will be changes on and off the ice—both in terms of personnel and how the team plays. At the very end of the press conference is where things got even more interesting. He was asked if Marner does leave, how do they replace him? Treliving said, “There’s not a hockey tree to pluck a player like Marner off of,” but also added that if he leaves, it could be the change they need to reshape the DNA.
The second-last question of the press conference was probably the biggest one. Treliving was asked if both Marner and Tavares will get contract offers before July 1. He wouldn’t confirm anything, only saying that the organization is “going through that process.”
Buckle up Leafs Nation, this is going to be one of the biggest summers in Toronto since Matthews was drafted in 2016.
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