Former Toronto Maple Leafs general manager Brad Treliving said Wednesday he believes the team lacked “buy-in” this season en route to missing the postseason for the first time since 2016.
Treliving spoke publicly for the first time since he was dismissed late in the season on TSN’s OverDrive as he serves as part of the management group for Team Canada at the ongoing World Hockey Championship.
“I certainly think that you can look at and say there were injuries, and at the beginning of the year, we had lost the goaltenders. But everybody goes through injuries. To me, those are excuses. There was a fall off there,” Treliving explained.
“We didn’t have the buy-in. You can debate how we played a little bit. The biggest challenge for me — and I talked a little bit about it in November — is that even the games we won on the scoreboard, we weren’t winning, whether it was shot share, controlling play, or driving play. That is something that is maybe not for today, but in the future, I’ll be able to dissect a little bit further and give you a better, more intelligent answer."
The Maple Leafs hired John Chayka as their general manager earlier this month with the news that head coach Craig Berube had been dismissed as head coach coming a few days later. Treliving said Wednesday that he and Berube were on the same page throughout their two years together in Toronto, describing him as a close friend.
“It was sad to see things happen there. But we all know the business. Craig has been around and has been in this game a long time. He understands that when you go through a season like that — and specifically when there is change in the regime — those things happen," Treliving said.
“Listen, we just didn’t get it done. At the end of the day, you can sit here, and there are all sorts of reasons. It was a little bit of a death by a thousand cuts. I don’t think our record was indicative of the type of team we had there. We saw what the team was able to accomplish the year before.
“Craig will do well. He will be fine. He has had a long career in the league. That relationship will always be a strong one between him and me.”
Treliving suggests change could be good for Rielly amid tough stretch
With Toronto’s roster expected to undergo a renovation this summer under Chayka, defenceman Morgan Rielly’s name has frequently surfaced in trade speculation.
Rielly had 11 goals and 36 points in 78 games with the Maple Leafs last season while averaging 21:08 of ice time. He finished the year minus-18, his worst mark since 2017 when he was minus-20.
Treliving, who named Rielly to Team Canada at the Worlds, defended the play of the 32-year-old veteran, who holds a full no-move clause in his contract.
“I still think there is a lot of game there,” Treliving said. “It is something Morgan and I talked a lot about when we were together.
“Listen, he has been there a long time. There is a heaviness that goes with it. He is a guy who feels a real responsibility in Toronto. No question, in the last couple of years, he would probably be the first to tell you that it hasn’t been perfect by any stretch, but I still think there is a lot of game left in Morgan.
“As you get older, you have to do different things in terms of your conditioning level and how you take care of yourself. You even see it here. When you get him around a different environment, he has been really solid.
“We have had a chance to spend some time over here, he and I. I know how much he cares about the Leafs and the market. But I do think there is hockey there.
“Who knows what the future holds, but sometimes, a change is good for everybody, right? I don’t know what the future holds for him, but I still think there is a good NHL defenseman there.”
The 6-foot-1, left-shot defenceman is entering the fifth season of an eight-year, $60 million contract with an annual cap hit of $7.5 million. He is scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent at the end of the 2029-30 campaign.
Drafted fifth overall by the Maple Leafs in 2012, Rielly has 98 goals and 549 points in 951 career games.
He helped the Maple Leafs to nine consecutive playoff appearances and two division titles during his tenure in Toronto before missing the playoffs last season.
