Brad Treliving's Best and Worst Decisions as Toronto Maple Leafs GM

Brad Treliving's Worst Moves as Toronto Maple Leafs GM

Signing John Klingberg

The Leafs GM signed John Klingberg in the hopes of adding another good puck-moving defenseman. However, Klingberg only ended up playing in 14 games for the Leafs before an injury forced the Leafs to place him on long-term injury reserve (LTIR).

Treliving gambled big on Klingberg ($4.15 million on a one-year deal), but it didn't pay off. The only good to come from that signing was the LTIR relief it offered toward the Leafs salary cap.
(All stats from hockey-reference.com) (All Salary cap info from puckpedia.com).

The David Kampf Contract

David Kampf is a decent bottom-six forward who can help kill penalties. The two-year deal for $1.5 million a season that former Leafs GM Kyle Dubas signed him to was decent. However, last summer, Treliving re-signed Kampf to a four-year deal worth $2.4 million a season. That's a lot of wasted cap space for a bottom-six forward who averages 13-15 minutes a game with less than 30 points a season.

Giving Ryan Reaves a Four-Year Contract

I could see why Treliving signed Ryan Reaves. Reaves offers the Leafs a legitimate heavyweight fighter. Someone who can take care of the tough guys on other teams.

However, paying a 4th line player who is one-dimensional $1.35 million is an overpay. It is even more problematic because of Reaves' age. He will be 39 when his contract expires in 2026. He only played in 49 games for the Leafs last season while averaging eight minutes of ice time per game.