Brad Treliving's Best and Worst Decisions as Toronto Maple Leafs GM
The Toronto Maple Leafs have had Brad Treliving as the team's general manager for just over a year. In that time, he has made quite a few moves to try and improve the Leafs roster. Some of those moves have been good, while others have been terrible.
The Toronto Maple Leafs had a decent team last season, but it wasn't enough to get past the Boston Bruins in the first round of the 2024 NHL playoffs. So, for Treliving, that meant going back to the drawing board and figuring out what areas of the team needed to be addressed.
Under no circumstances does any GM get things right 100% of the time.
Not every trade or free-agent signing is going to work out as planned. All a GM can do is adjust and try something different when a move doesn't work.
In his first off-season as the new GM of the Leafs, Treliving added grit and tenacity with the signings of Ryan Reaves, Max Domi, and Tyler Bertuzzi.
This off-season, he addressed the need for defense by signing Chris Tanev, Oliver Ekman-Larsson, and Jani Hakanpaa, re-signing Timothy Liljegren and Simon Benoit.
The big question now is whether or not this defense can make up for the Leafs lack of a clear number-one starting goaltender. The tandem of Joseph Woll and Anthony Stolarz could be outstanding, but the lack of experience is a concern.
Here is a look at Brad Treliving's best and worst moves as GM of the Leafs.
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.
Brad Treliving's Best Moves as Toronto Maple Leafs GM
Re-Signing Auston Matthews
Last off-season, Treliving's top priority was to get Leafs superstar Auston Matthews signed to a contract extension. He did just that by signing Matthews to a four-year contract extension that has a $13.25 million salary cap hit per season. The deal allows the Leafs to continue having one of the NHL's best players through his prime years, and it allows Matthews the chance to earn one more big contract at the age of 30 when this deal is finished.
Addressing Defensive Needs
Replacing Mark Giordano, T.J. Brodie, Ilya Lyubushkin, and Joel Edmundson with Chris Tanev, Oliver Ekman-Larsson, and Jani Hakanpaa is an upgrade to the Leafs defense. All three of the new additions play well defensively with Ekman-Larsson also adding some offensive upside. Adding them to a defense that already includes Morgan Rielly, Jake McCabe, Timothy Liljegren, Simon Benoit, and Conor Timmins makes the Leafs blueline a fairly solid one.
Re-Signing Joseph Woll
It has been a very long time since the Leafs had a homegrown goaltender in their system that they have been patient with and allowed them to develop and did not trade them away. Joseph Woll was drafted by the Leafs in the 2016 NHL draft with the 62nd overall pick. He signed his entry-level contract (ELC) in 2018 and has been working his way through the system ever since.
Treliving signed Woll to a three-year contract extension that will begin in the 2025-26 season. Woll has the opportunity this season to become a legitimate NHL starter. If he plays up to his potential, Treliving will look like a genius for having him signed until 2028 at $3.67 million a season.
manual
This contract has serious upside and could, at least potentially, give the Leafs a star goalie signed to an extremely team-friendly deal.