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On the Hot Seat: Treliving Phoned Several Maple Leafs Players After Matthews’ Hit

Originally posted on NHL Trade Talk | Last updated Mar 16, 2026 4:53 PM ET

The fallout from Auston Matthews ’ recent incident continues to ripple through the Toronto Maple Leafs organization, with reports that, behind the scenes, things got extremely heated between the general manager and the players on the ice at the time of the hit.

Elliotte Friedman was a guest on Sportsnet 590 The Fan, and was asked if there was more fallout, including how Matthews might be reacting to things. He wasn’t prepared to speak out of turn, having not talked directly to Matthews. What he did say was, “I got a call on Sunday, and they said, ‘Have you spoken to Treliving?’ I said, ‘Not really, no,’” one insider explained. “I didn’t realize he was away during that game. He was scouting. I guess he called some of the players directly and was livid.”

Saying he called those players while on the road speaks to how upset Treliving was. It’s not something a GM does.

Treliving has a reputation for building teams that don’t do what the Maple Leafs did when Matthews was hit: act like it didn’t happen. Friedman noted, “You can criticize certain things, whether it was Calgary or even Arizona, but you don’t question the team’s toughness or instinct to respond—and that takes a lot,” Mike Futa added.

Futa added that the general manager isn’t calling players individually, unless he feels the need to. Whether Treliving felt Craig Berube wasn’t going to address it or had lost the room and the message wouldn’t sink in, the GM took matters into his own hands.

He wasn’t even at the Buffalo game, which only added to the tension. “It probably would have been just frustrating to watch,” Futa noted. As for how Treliving will react after he’s had some time to cool off, that’s unclear.

This article first appeared on NHL Trade Talk and was syndicated with permission.

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