It has now been just over two months since Toronto Maple Leafs President Brendan Shanahan hired former Calgary Flames general manager Brad Treliving to hold the same role in the Capital of Ontario.
The Toronto Maple Leafs fans are still waiting to see Treliving to do something to really put his stamp on the team and he has the opportunity to do so any day.
As of July 1, the Toronto Maple Leafs could sign extensions for two of their superstars, yet there does not appear that Treliving is pressing to get the future contracts of William Nylander or Auston Matthews completed.
The speculation among several hockey insiders that Matthews is almost ready to sign a deal in the range of three to five years, worth roughly $13.5 Million per season. This deal would make him the highest paid player by annual cap hit in the NHL, yet the deal is not signed.
If we were to believe the insiders, Nylander and the Toronto Maple Leafs aren’t even in the same ballpark in contract negotiations. If reports are correct, Nylander is looking for $10+ Million per season, while the Maple Leafs are trying to get the deal done under $9 Million.
Toronto Maple Leafs Desperately Need to Sign Matthews and Nylander
So far this summer, the only thing that Treliving has done is let an arbitrator decide on a one-year deal worth $3.55 Million for his starting goaltender, while watching the Minnesota Wild sign a similar goalie to a three-year deal for nearly the same amount of money.
Arguably, the only significantly positive move that Treliving has done thus far is sign Tyler Bertuzzi to a one-year deal worth $5.5 Million, which is more or less fair value for the scoring winger.
In fact, if you take away the arbitrator deciding the contract for Samsonov on July 23, Treliving had a four-week span between signing fringe NHL players Dylan Gambrell and Nicholas Abruzzse that there was not one move made on the Maple Leafs roster.
August is now upon us and it is time for the new general manager to get off of vacation mode and sign two of the most important players in team history. It would be nice to see Treliving to put his stamp on the team any time now.