The Toronto Maple Leafs announced that the club was parting ways with general manager Brad Treliving Monday night as the club is set to miss the playoffs for the first time in a decade.
“Throughout the course of this season, there has been deep analysis into both the current state of the Maple Leafs organization and the direction needed to achieve the ultimate goal of delivering a Stanley Cup championship to the city,” said MLSE President & CEO Keith Pelley. “Brad Treliving is a man that we all have deep respect and appreciation for, both as a hockey executive and as a person, but it was determined that the club must chart a new course under different leadership. The organization is grateful for all that Brad has contributed in his nearly three years with the Maple Leafs and we wish him and his family the very best.”
Since being named GM of the team, Toronto has gone 139-92-27 with a 10-10 playoff record with Treliving at the helm. The 56 year old was brought in to replace Kyle Dubas in May of 2023 by then president of hockey operations Brendan Shanahan. After Shanahan’s contract wasn’t renewed last year, the Maple Leafs opted to remove the position from the club hierarchy.
With Shanahan and Treliving now both gone, questions surrounding the future of head coach Craig Berube, who was hired in 2024, have begun to swirl in the capital of Ontario.
News of Treliving’s firing came as a shock to many Leafs players as they prepared to take on the Anaheim Ducks Monday night. “I think he’s done a lot for this team,” forward Matthew Knies said. “I think he has helped. But yeah, I think that’s just kind of the way the business goes right now, and when we’re not performing it starts from the top.”
“We haven’t had much time to sit with it, so we’re still processing it,” defenceman Morgan Rielly added. “How I feel is in times like these where changes are made, it’s ultimately on the players. It’s a business based on results.”
Currently sporting a 32-30-13 record, Toronto is set to miss out on the postseason for the first time since 2015-16. This year will mark the first time in the Auston Matthews era in which the club has failed to qualify for the playoffs.
Rather than wait another two weeks to begin their search for a new GM, the Maple Leafs brass opted to get a head start on things by relieving Treliving of his duties. This offseason will be a hugely important one for the club, as the club will be relying on a bit of luck to help them turn the corner for 2026-27.
Toronto previously traded their 2026 first round pick to the Boston Bruins in exchange for defenceman Brandon Carlo, however the pick is top 5 protected. Depending on what happens over the course of the team’s next seven games, they could either be adding a blue chip prospect to their pipeline, or seeing a rare down year net their bitter rivals a controllable asset for years to come.
Whomever the club names as their new GM will also need to make decisions on pending UFA’s Calle Jarnkrok, and Troy Stecher, as well as RFA’s Matias Maccelli, Nicholas Robertson, and Jacob Quillan. They’ll also need to rebuild a farm system which The Hockey Writers group recently ranked as dead last in the NHL in terms of future prospects.
If Toronto’s first rounder does indeed go to Boston this summer, it means that the team won’t be selecting until the 3rd round at the earliest, meaning that barring trades, the club will need to look to retool via free agency rather than the draft.
Toronto is now off for a few days before taking the ice on Thursday in San Jose to take on the Sharks in a 10pm ET matchup.
Photo: Simba Mai. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.