Building relationship with Matthews top priority for Treliving

Maple Leafs general manager Brad Treliving and president Brendan Shanahan held a news conference at Scotiabank Arena on Thursday. 

Before making an opening statement, new Toronto Maple Leafs general manager Brad Treliving took a look around at the crammed media centre. 

"It is a little warm in here," the 53-year-old said with a smile. "There's a turnout. They told me you guys follow the game here."

The Penticton, B.C., native is only a couple days into his new job and the heat is already on. The first question he faced at Thursday's news conference was on the future of superstar centre Auston Matthews, who has one year left on his contract. 

"I'm glad we waited so long to get to that topic," Treliving said to laughs. 

Treliving has already exchanged texts with Matthews and plans to meet with the 25-year-old soon. 

"Getting to Auston is a priority, but outside of the contract stuff, No. 1 is just getting to build that relationship," Treliving said. "It is not walking down and trying to arm wrestle about contracts. It is me getting a chance to meet him, but more importantly, having Auston get a chance to meet me, know what we are about, and just talk a little bit. That's priority one."

Treliving is already well-acquainted with Matthews' agent, Judd Moldaver. 

"I know Judd and have a strong relationship with Judd," he said. "There is a great personal relationship. Judd's excellent at what he does."

So is Matthews, who is one year removed from winning the Hart Trophy. 

"Auston is one of the elite players in the world," Treliving said. "We are not talking about a good player in the league. We are talking about an elite player in the world."

Matthews is eligible to sign an extension as of July 1. 

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Another priority for Treliving is the coaching situation. It remains unclear if incumbent bench boss Sheldon Keefe, who also has one year left on his contract, will return.

"As I said to him, it is a little bit of a unique situation," Treliving noted. "We can call it whatever we want. We are all big boys here. There has been a change. He is in a unique situation, but that is the business. My view is, determining whether a guy is good, bad, or indifferent, you have to get to know him. You have to work with him. We are going to sit down and go through it."

Treliving pointed out that he kept Bob Hartley as coach upon taking over the general manager role with the Calgary Flames even though he had no real relationship with him before that. Hartley won the Jack Adams Award in Treliving's first season. 

Treliving also highlighted the fact that Keefe has guided the Leafs to strong regular-season results. 

"I am coming in with no preconceived notions," Treliving stressed. "I think Sheldon has done a lot of really, really good things. I look at how a group of really skilled players has gotten better at checking, defending, and doing those things you need to win. We are going to sit down, have a thorough process, try to do it as thoroughly as possible, and try to come to a conclusion."

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Just minutes before Treliving took the podium in Toronto, predecessor Kyle Dubas was named the new president of hockey operations for the Pittsburgh Penguins. 

"They are like us," said Leafs president Brendan Shanahan. "I don't think it was intentional timing. I have been in contact with the CEO of Fenway, Sam Kennedy. He and I are very close. We have talked over the last week several times about Kyle. They need to get to work as well. I fully endorse Kyle. I told Sam he would be great for the organization. I am very happy for him."

"Kyle Dubas is a very close friend," Treliving said. "We have a very good relationship. I think he is extremely smart. I think he is talented at what he does. Of the manager group, he is a close confidant. He's left me some really good pieces – on the ice and off the ice."

Shanahan downplayed the idea that the general manager doesn't have autonomy to make big decisions quickly in Toronto's management. 

"Ultimately, a decision has to be made by the GM," said Shanahan, who is nine seasons into his Toronto tenure. "That is how I have always operated. That is how I will continue to operate. I think Brad is a collaborative person. I think he is looking forward to meeting our staff with all of the resources we have built up here in Toronto. But I think he also has people in the hockey world he relies on as well. Brad and I — our relationship will not be all that different than the very good one that Kyle and I had. Ultimately, I really do feel that the role and responsibility has to ultimately come from the GM. That doesn't change."

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On Toronto's exit-interview day, an emotional Dubas said he didn't have it in him to take on another job immediately if things didn't work out with the Leafs. He revealed that the season had been hard on his family. 

"Maybe I was too honest that day with how I was feeling in that exact moment," Dubas told reporters in Pittsburgh. "But it is in the past."

The day after being let go by the Leafs, Dubas received a call from Kennedy about the Penguins job. 

"My initial inkling was we needed to take a breath before we entertain other options," Dubas said. "That was our intention at the beginning of the week. My wife [Shannon] then later in the day said, 'I think you should go and at least meet with them.' She said, 'If they are great people, they have a long-term view of the organization, and it is going to be a great fit for you in terms of what everyone is about that you are going to work for and with, and the staff has a great feel, then we are going to be moving anyway now.' So, our kids are going to be six and two. Leo will be in Grade 1 next year. Shannon's view was if we are going to move, we might as well move now before the kids are too entrenched."

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In his final news conference with the Leafs, Dubas sounded more willing than ever before to consider making a big move to shake things up. On Thursday, Treliving was asked about the potential of trading a core four player (Matthews, Mitch Marner, John Tavares, or William Nylander). 

"Having those players excites me," he said. "They're world-class players. We are going to review everything. I want to stress strongly; I am not about coming in and making a statement. You can throw a body onto the tarmac and it might look good for a headline, but are you getting any better? At the end of the day, it is about getting better and just being different doesn't necessarily make you better."

Matthews and Marner will have a full no-move clause as of July 1. Tavares already has one. Nylander, who is entering the final year of his contract, will be able to submit a 10 team no-trade list as of July 1. 

"My job is to protect them," Treliving said. "I am fiercely protective of my players. But this can't be about the core four. This is about the Toronto Maple Leafs. It is not about four players. It's not about two. It's not about one. It is about the 23 guys we are going to have in this organization." 

But after only one playoff series win in seven seasons with Matthews, Marner, Nylander and defenceman Morgan Rielly and five seasons with Tavares, there are growing questions about whether this core group can lead a team to the Stanley Cup. Treliving acknowledged he would need to "get behind the curtain" before making any conclusions about what is holding the team back. 

"It is hard to win," Treliving said. "We are looking at a final now with two really good teams, but one of the teams [Florida] was a Pittsburgh win away from not making the playoffs. It is tight. The margins are thin. It is hard to win. I know people want the answers and we are going to try to get the answers, but it is hard to win."

Treliving’s Flames advanced to the second round just twice during his nine-year run and never further. 

"It is hard to win," he repeated. "Beyond that, we have to dig in, get familiar with it and find solutions to the issues that we've got."

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Treliving, who was assistant general manager of the Phoenix Coyotes before moving to Calgary in 2014, is looking forward to working with assistant general manager Brandon Pridham. 

"One of the real draws for me is the people here and that goes for off the ice, too," Treliving said. "I have known Brandon for a long time. I used to think that I had to mail him a cheque when I was in Arizona. We felt like he was on the payroll when he was working for the league. We were owned by the league. We leaned on him all the time. In my mind, he is one of the very best, if not the best, at what he does in the league."

Pridham served as the NHL's senior director, Central Registry and senior advisor, Central Scouting, before joining Toronto's front office in 2014. 

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Treliving was asked if there are any restrictions on what he can do at the draft. He deferred to Shanahan. 

"There were some restrictions imposed by the Calgary Flames," Shanahan confirmed. "We are not going to go into those details. I will say I have talked to Brad about that. We have an excellent head scout in Wes Clark. We have an excellent scouting team. We pick in the first, fifth and sixth rounds. They are still doing their job. They are preparing. That part won't change. We have the utmost confidence in our scouting staff, but I won't go into those details."

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Leafs depth chart at end of 2022-23 season: 

F

Knies - Matthews - Marner
Jarnkrok - Tavares - Nylander 
Bunting* - O'Reilly* - Acciari* 
Kerfoot* - Kampf* - Lafferty 
Aston-Reese*, Simmonds*, Robertson

D

Rielly - Schenn* 
Brodie - Holl* 
McCabe - Liljegren 
Giordano - Timmins 
Gustafsson*, Mete**

G

Samsonov**
Woll 
Murray 

Injury:

Muzzin (spine)

*UFA 
**RFA