Brad Treliving’s past should have scared Maple Leafs away

Brad Treliving was never the right person for the Toronto Maple Leafs general manager position, and fewer than three years later, the damage has been done.

Treliving was fired by the Leafs fewer than three years into his tenure, a run that was an absolute disaster from almost the moment it began. The frustrating part is how former President Brendan Shanahan moved on from Kyle Dubas, who is doing some great things in Pittsburgh by the way, handing the keys to Treliving, despite a history of some very head scratching decisions, and very limited success in Calgary. The funny part? Maple Leafs CEO Keith Pelley described the type of GM the organization needs at his press conference on Tuesday, and boy oh boy, it sure sounded like he was describing Dubas to a tee.

Treliving turned the Flames on their head before heading to Toronto, and essentially set the franchise back a decade. The Matthew Tkachuk trade didn’t work out and now Calgary is stuck with a declining, extremely expensive Jonathan Huberdeau. Early on, Treliving acquired defenceman Travis Hamonic for three draft picks, one of which turned out to be Noah Dobson. He’s also the same GM who gave up on Sam Bennett. And everyone remembers the Sean Monahan ‘salary dump’ trade to the Montreal Canadiens, which also included Treliving sending a first-round pick to Montreal for future considerations. It turned out that Monahan still had plenty of game left and Montreal eventually dealt him for another first-round pick, while Treliving prioritized declining veterans, and eventually lost his job. Those are just a few from a very long list of incompetent decisions.

For some reason, this appealed to the Maple Leafs’ brass at the time, and Shanahan felt the respect Treliving had in the game was going to help, especially in trade and contract negotiations. Shanahan really bought into Treliving’s vision to use the Stanley Cup window that was presented, and bring home the holy grail. Instead, they both are no longer with the organization, and there’s certainly a sense the Maple Leafs may have to completely tear it down before there’s any type of playoff success on the horizon. A massive organizational mistake that’s going to have lasting implications on the franchise, but at the time, Shanahan couldn’t have been more excited.

“I’m very pleased to welcome Brad into the Maple Leafs organization,” Shanahan said May 31, 2023 at the introductory press conference. “Brad brings a wealth of knowledge from his years of experience as a general manager and hockey executive in Calgary, Arizona and beyond. He has earned tremendous respect amongst his peers throughout his years in the NHL and has built excellent relationships at all levels within the game. We are confident that Brad’s leadership and strategic vision will elevate the Maple Leafs in our continued pursuit of a championship.” Needless to say, the strategic vision ended up being a blind sense of security and a wealth of mistakes.

The Fraser Minten/Brandon Carlo trade is certainly near the top of the list, and there’s even more salt in the wound now with the details coming out that Treliving wasn’t in contact with the Boston Bruins until roughly an hour before the trade deadline. It was a panic move that Treliving had no business making and one that’s going to be tough to digest for Leafs Nation for many years to come, considering Minten’s development is going to be front and centre in the Atlantic Division. Carlo’s looked like the Maple Leafs’ worst defenseman on many occasions, has never found his footing in blue and white, and once a data-centric GM is hired, is likely one of the first players traded.

The Mitch Marner debacle was complicated, so it’s hard to pin it all on Treliving. Marner’s no-movement clause kicked in shortly after Treliving was hired and moving the team’s star winger as his very first transaction would have sent shockwaves throughout the entire dressing room. Instead, Treliving let Marner’s contract play out, tried to move Marner at the deadline but he vetoed a deal to Carolina, and then Marner took the 4 Nations Faceoff tournament as an opportunity to get a scouting report on what it’s like playing in Vegas.

After this season’s trade deadline it was obvious Treliving’s tenure was coming to an end, just based on how bad he fumbled the bag of assets. He should have acquired more for Bobby McMann, who is on an absolute heater with the Seattle Kraken. Considering how much he gave up to land Scott Laughton, to move him to Los Angeles for a third-round pick left a very sour taste in Pelley’s mouth, and many others. And the worst part, everything Treliving acquired at the deadline were future considerations. Not one NHL-ready prospect who could have stepped into the Leafs lineup for the rest of the season for an audition. Instead, Treliving acquired draft picks for the coming years, and essentially landed lottery tickets, which may or may not pan out in five years. Auston Matthews and William Nylander didn’t want to see that, they want to win as soon as next season, and now, things could be turning due south in a hurry with the Leafs’ brightest stars, all because Treliving’s vision was built solely on eye testing players, and what turned out to be horrible decision making.

The Maple Leafs are an absolute mess, and it all started when Shanahan decided Treliving was his guy. Toronto had a massive window to win the Stanley Cup, and instead, these two decided to blow the doors off the organization.

Thank you Brad, for absolutely nothing.