Brad Treliving Addresses Breaking Apart the Maple Leafs' Core
When the Toronto Maple Leafs hired Brad Treliving to be the next GM everyone wondered if this would be the off-season that Toronto would move one of the "big four" forwards, as the contracts to both Auston Matthews and William Nylander are up at the end of the 2023-24 season.
No moves came and Treliving instead signed Matthews to a four-year, $53 million contract, making him the highest-paid NHL player in terms of AAV. He also committed to keeping the core four this season, even with the risk of Nylander becoming a free agent once the season is over.
No Need to Make a Change Just to Make a Change
In his first sit-down interview since taking the Leafs' GM job four months ago, Brad Treliving said he was not going to trade a core player to just make a trade, despite what some of the fan base clamours for:
Instead, the new GM wanted to bring a change to the dressing room, as the team did not bring back the likes of Luke Schenn, Michael Bunting, Ryan O'Reilly, Justin Holl, Alex Kerfoot, and Wayne Simmonds. Treliving opted instead to sign Max Domi, John Klingberg, Ryan Reaves, and Tyler Bertuzzi to bring a different dimension to the dressing room.
Nylander's Future
Brad Treliving was not shy about discussing the plan with William Nyalnder, as he is not signed past this season.
The Leafs will make every attempt to sign Nylander before he becomes a free agent at the end of this season as they set their sights on competing for the Stanley Cup in 2023-24.
As Read On The Athletic - Maple Leafs GM Brad Treliving Q&A: On why breaking up the core wasn't an option
As Read On House of Hockey - Leafs GM Addresses Breaking Up the Core Four
| POLL | ||
SEPTEMBRE 27 | 58 ANSWERS Brad Treliving Addresses Breaking Apart the Maple Leafs' Core Should the Leafs trade Nylander if he wants over $9M/year? | ||
| Yes | 36 | 62.1 % |
| No | 22 | 37.9 % |
| LIST OF POLLS | ||
| G | A | PTS | ||
| Zachary Werenski | 2 | 3 | 5 | |
| Sean Monahan | 1 | 3 | 4 | |
| Jesper Bratt | 2 | 1 | 3 | |
| Frederick Gaudreau | 2 | 1 | 3 | |
| Jack Hughes | - | 3 | 3 | |
| Nikita Kucherov | - | 3 | 3 | |
| Mackenzie Weegar | - | 3 | 3 | |
| Kent Johnson | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Alexander Wennberg | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Mitchell Chaffee | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Anthony Cirelli | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Matthew Coronato | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Marcus Foligno | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Nick Foligno | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Conor Geekie | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Brandon Hagel | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Stefan Noesen | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Corey Perry | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Igor Sharangovich | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Dmitry Voronkov | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Complete stats | ||||
| STANDINGS 2024-2025 | ||||||
TOP 10 | GP | W | L | OL | PTS | |
Jets | 19 | 16 | 3 | - | 32 | |
Hurricanes | 18 | 14 | 4 | - | 28 | |
Capitals | 18 | 13 | 4 | 1 | 27 | |
Wild | 18 | 12 | 3 | 3 | 27 | |
Maple Leafs | 20 | 12 | 6 | 2 | 26 | |
Devils | 21 | 12 | 7 | 2 | 26 | |
Rangers | 17 | 12 | 4 | 1 | 25 | |
Panthers | 19 | 12 | 6 | 1 | 25 | |
Stars | 18 | 12 | 6 | - | 24 | |
Golden Knights | 19 | 11 | 6 | 2 | 24 | |
| Conference | Cumulative | ||||||