Brad Treliving May Have Made His Best Move as Toronto Maple Leafs GM
It's now been a full year since the Toronto Maple Leafs hired Brad Treliving as their GM, and after some quesitonable decisions during his tenure so far, he may have made his best move yet.
Brad Treliving's tenure as General Manager of the Toronot Maple Leafs has been below average, to say the least.
He's made some good additions to the Toronto Maple Leafs roster, including Max Domi, Chris Tanev, and Tyler Bertuzzi (who was too expensive to retain), and Connor Dewar. While all these players are good to have around, none of them are necessarily "franchise-altering".
Treliving has also made some of the most questionable decisions in the entire NHL over the past few years, most notably signing David Kampf and Ryan Reaves to almost a combined $4 million until at least the end of the 2025-26 season.
With that being said, however, his most recent move has a chance to work out as his best. Enter Alex Nylander.
Brad Treliving May Have Made His Best Move as Toronto Maple Leafs GM
Earlier I threw around the words "franchise-altering", and obviously Alex Nylander is not that type of player (unless he magically outscores his brother next year). But this signing is the type of low-risk, high-reward signing that good GMs know how to make, and the younger Nylander brother could be one of the best bargains in the entire NHL next season.
Now, technically Alex Nylander is not an official member of the Leafs, rather just the Marlies, but the likely scenario is he tears up the AHL and gets called up to the show a few months into the season and earns a spot full-time in the NHL.
After scoring 11 goals in his final 23 games last year with the Columbus Blue Jackets, there's no reason he can't do it again, right? I'm not saying he'll score at a 40-goal pace again, but can he crack 15? I don't see why not, especially with a roster as talented as the Leafs have.
But most importantly, there is zero risk with this contract. Treliving made a controversial decision last summer to sign John Klingberg to a 1-year, $4 million deal. Klingberg was terrible, earning only five assists in 14 games before getting injured for the entire season.
Did the deal work out, no, but at least it was only a single-year contract and now he's off the team. Same thing goes for Alex Nylander, if he plays well then great, the Leafs get some more secondary scoring for a very cheap price. If he doesn't work out, the Marlies get a quality player for their roster this upcoming season.
Again, there is not one risk in this deal, and these low-risk, high-reward contracts are exactly what Brad Treliving should be doing. Alotting four years to David Kampf-type players is not a good idea, but one-year deals to young guys with tons of upside, absolutely.
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We'll see in a year's time how this deal plays out, but I would bet on this being one of Treliving's best.