A look at Brad Treliving's work two years into his tenure as Maple Leafs GM

National Post

a day ago

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Happy anniversary, Brad Treliving.
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In the two years since the Maple Leafs hired Treliving to be the 18th general manager in franchise history, the 55-year-old has set the team on a new course, one that took greater shape when head coach Craig Berube was brought on board last spring.
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In a perfect Treliving world, the Leafs will be a team that evolves into one of the top defensively responsible outfits in the National Hockey League, to the point that it becomes an annual Stanley Cup contender.
In the wake of another frustrating exit from the playoffs, this time culminating in a Game 7 loss to the Florida Panthers in the second round, the Leafs aren't there yet.
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'We fell short of where we wanted to be, and we fell short of where I thought we could be,' Treliving said on Thursday at his end-of-season availability. 'There was a style of play I felt we needed to get to (in hiring Berube). It's a style of play that I feel gives you the best chance to have success. We're seeing it.
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'You see it prevalent in our division. It's a direct style, it's a style that you have to be a heavy, forechecking team.'
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The loss to Florida aside, the Leafs have taken strides in Treliving's two years in the GM chair.
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Let's take a look at the past 24 months:
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Of the trades that Treliving has made, including a couple of draft deals that included only picks, one stands out above the rest.
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We take you back to last June, when Treliving sent minor-league forward Max Ellis (who played this past season in Finland) and a seventh-round choice in 2026 to the Dallas Stars for the rights to free agent defenceman Chris Tanev.
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Treliving has earned a reputation as a GM whose curiosity has him checking in on just about every player who may be available. Yet his pursuit of Tanev was unwavering. Treliving coveted a reunion with Tanev after working with him with the Calgary Flames. And after he was unable to trade for Tanev at the 2024 trade deadline, Treliving made it work a few months later.
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Within days, Tanev put his signature on a six-year contract with an average annual value of $4.5 million and the Leafs officially had their defensive linchpin.
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Tanev quickly established himself as being representative of just about everything Treliving wants in his defencemen. When Tanev isn't blocking shots, he's sharp in the D zone and rarely gets caught out of position. Moving the puck is done with ease.
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Tanev will turn 36 in December, but there wasn't one instance in his first season with the Leafs where his age was a detriment.
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Treliving gave an indication of the longer, bigger defencemen he envisioned as being the poster boys of the Leafs blue line when he acquired Ilya Lyubushkin and Joel Edmundson at the '24 deadline. Both moved on in free agency last summer, but Treliving had laid the groundwork for his vision.
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included saying goodbye to 2017 first-round pick Timothy Liljegren. Failure to adjust to the physical nature now required by Leafs D-men led Liljegren to being traded to the San Jose Sharks last October. A couple of draft picks and depth defenceman Matt Benning, who spent the rest of the season with the Toronto Marlies, were fetched by Treliving in the trade.