An Embarrassing End to an Embarrassing Year for Maple Leafs GM Brad Treliving
The Toronto Maple Leafs sure made a horrible choice when it came to selecting their new GM.
Toronto Maple Leafs Brad Treliving isn't just the author of one bad, team, he's the only current NHL GM responsible for two bad teams.
The Calgary Flames are even worse than the Toronto Maple Leafs, and so while I doubt Leafs fans will ever agree on the merits of Kyle Dubas, I think we can all come together and agree that Brad Treliving is indeed a horrible manager.
If you don't believe me, this is the guy who hired Daryl Sutter, traded Matthew Tkachuk and signed Jonathan Huberdeau, Ryan Reaves, John Klingberg, and David Kampf.
The Leafs are currently seven points out of first place in the Atlantic Division, and only six points ahead of joke-team the Montreal Canadiens. Since the Leafs are currently without an NHL quality goalie, they have a very good chance of missing the playoffs. Meanwhile the Flames are in 27th overall and have no chance of playing this spring.
An Embarrassing End to an Embarrassing Year for Brad Treliving
Things were already going poorly for Treliving, but last night ended the season on a pretty embarrassing note for the beleaguered Leafs GM.
In the summer, Treliving signed Ryan Reaves and David Kampf for almost what it would have cost to sign Michael Bunting, who he let walk.
Neither Kampf nor Reaves have been good, and neither played last night.
You'll never guess who opened the scoring for Carolina in the last game of the year?
Old Michael Bunting himself.
Bunting has 8 goals and 25 points with Carolina. Tyler Bertuzzi has 6 goals and 14 points while playing exclusively with Hart Trophy Candidate William Nylander.
Bunting is cheaper, and better, and literally anyone with an internet connection could have told you so before Treliving signed / did not sign them. In fact, as I kept pointing out in the summer, Bunting has 2 seasons that are superior to Bertuzzi's best year.
There is no question who you'd rather have on the roster, but Bunting scoring against his old team was just hilarious. When Bunting scored, you visibly see the humiliation in the air; you could smell Treliving's flop sweat through the TV.
The Leafs end the year by losing three straight, and five of their last six, and six of their last eight.
This was, by the way, completely predictable.
The Toronto Maple Leafs barely have a GM, they don't have a goalie, and their coach is lost. This team needed to get toasted by Tampa back in early November so that they would have course-corrected. Instead they made a bizarre comback, convinced themselves they were fine, and now here we are:
Brendan Shanahan's job hangs by a thread. The team is in danger of missing the playoffs. They do not have a goalie. Now its time for a west-coast trip, which always goes well.
Next. From the Summer: Leafs Will Miss Bunting the Most. From the Summer: Leafs Will Miss Bunting the Most. dark
Has anyone seen Ron Wilson lately?