Brad Treliving hints at significant adjustments to Maple Leafs: ‘There’s some DNA that has to change’

“We have to find a way to push through at the most critical moments. And that’s the challenge in front of us. Moving forward, we have a good team. We’ve changed, we’ve changed a lot in the last 12 months,” Treliving said.

“There will be change moving forward, that’s just the nature of the business. “We have to continue to change and evolve our mindset and create the team, both between the ears, personnel, to be our very best at the most critical moments. There’s some DNA that has to change on our team. If you keep getting to the same result, and that’s not to dismiss a lot of the good that (led) up to it, if you keep getting the same result, there’s some DNA that needs to change. That’s on me going forward, and our staff.”

Treliving specifically mentioned Game 5 and 7 against the Panthers as two instances where he felt the Leafs fell short in a critical moment. While he commended the way the Leafs played in Game 6, he thought they were not good enough in the other two games, against a Panthers team that has set the standard in his estimation.

“You have to embrace it with all the challenges that are in front of you: good opponent, the stage, what’s at stake,” Treliving said on what type of changes to the DNA he wants to make to the Leafs, “You got to find a way to embrace that moment and ultimately succeed in it. The margins are really thin. And when I say that, I don’t believe you have to go and change 20 players, it’s not always about that. It’s what can we do to help our guys, what can we do to find guys that can help.”

Treliving is now putting himself in the cross-hairs to make these changes and with more authority to do so, given he will now have more direct communication with MLSE CEO Keith Pelley moving forward. And it’s clear that Treliving and his team are still figuring out the next steps. Treliving did not make a firm commitment to retaining Mitch Marner and John Tavares, noting that both have a say in the process and no final decision has been made. He also stated repeatedly about the desire to reach an extension with pending RFA Matthew Knies quickly.

“I like the length of our defence, I like the makeup of our defence but you still have to get up and down the ice. Part of how we play will lend itself to giving up some volume,” Treliving said. “We need to get more offence from our defence. Not just goals. We can get some more volume the other way. In terms of personnel, we’ll see. I like the D-core but we can’t be rigid. We fell short. We have to continue to look at ways we can get better.”

It is too soon to say where exactly things are heading at the time of filing, but Treliving’s presser indicated that Shanahan’s departure is only the beginning of many changes coming to the Leafs this summer.