Toronto Maple Leafs: Grading Brad Treliving’s First Offseason

The Toronto Maple Leafs roster is going to look way different this season then it did at the end of last year.

Brad Treliving has made his mark on this Toronto Maple Leafs team and it has Leafs Nation in question on if this team will be better or worse then the 2022-23 squad.

I myself have questions but by November/December, I expect them to be answered. One of them being, if Sheldon Keefe  gets off to a slow start, will there be a new man behind the bench for the Leafs? Another one is will the new additions fit well under Keefe?

So with this article I thought it would be fun to grade what has been an overall wild offseason for the Toronto Maple Leafs and their fans.

Toronto Maple Leafs Overall Offseason: Grade B

To some, this grade will be either way too high, or too low, but personally, I think the Leafs offseason was pretty good considering some of the pieces they lost  in free agency.

To start off, losing Ryan O’Rielly, Michael Bunting, Alex Kerfoot, Justin Holl, Noel Acciari and Luke Schenn hurt, and the guys brought in on the first day of free agency didn’t make me or any Leaf fan feel any form of optimism heading into next season.

The Ryan Reaves signing was fun and to know that the Leafs have their new fighter will be enjoying to watch but the fact that he most likely won’t be playing every game and that he was signed to a three-year contract is a bit worrying.

John Klingberg could either be extremely good or extremely bad.  Klingberg  is a pure offensive defencemen and if used right he could thrive this year, but he’s coming off one of the worst seasons any player had in the NHL last year.

Keefe could let the 31-year-old take control on either the first or second powerplay which could work out extremely well for both the player and the team, but again, all this remains to be seen.

However, it was day two that kicked off the second edition of “Summer of Brad” when he signed both Tyler Bertuzzi and Max Domi. Two players who were coming off great seasons with their respective teams.  The main thing to like about these signings is that they are just for a single season, so there isn’t much risk if they don’t work out.

Bertuzzi is a perfect Bunting replacement, though at 5x the cost,  and if he remains healthy, could produce season highs playing with the likes of Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, William Nylander and John Tavares. (stats naturalstattrick.com).

The same goes for Domi. Ideally I wished he would be wearing number 28 just like his dad but 11 will do just fine. Domi has been a player I have wanted the Leafs to go after for the last two offseason’s, and now he is finally home.

In 60 games with the Chicago Blackhawks he put up 49 points. But when he was traded to Dallas, his production slowed off a bit, because a good team isn’t going to use him as high in the lineup as Chicago did.  However, just like Bertuzzi, with the players that Domi will be surrounded with, he could put up season highs.

But that’s just my opinion I am sure there are different ones out there that either agree or disagree with what I’ve said, but that’s just the beauty of sports, isn’t it?