Is Toronto Maple Leafs GM Brad Treliving Afraid to Make a Trade?

The Toronto Maple Leafs are not having a good off-season by any standards.

One thing that would probably help the Toronto Maple Leafs is to make a big trade, but interestingly, their GM seems to be a bit gun-shy.

The Leafs have had Brad Treliving as their General Manager for over a year now, after hiring prior to last seasons's NHL Entry Draft.

In that time, he has yet to make a big trade.

Is Toronto Maple Leafs GM Brad Treliving Afraid to Make a Trade?

Before he was even the GM of the Leafs, Kyle Dubas traded for Zach Hyman and set the Leafs up with Auston Matthews by trading Phil Kessel to the Penguins and ensuring a last place finish.

Brian Burke came aboard guns-a-blazing, almost instantly trading for Phil Kessel.

Lou Lamoriello made a nearly instant splash when he traded for Freddie Andersen.

You know who didn't make a move right after he was hired? John Ferguson Jr, who was named GM just before the 2003-04 season started, and didn't make any moves until the deadline, which, like Treliving's, were all minor.

JFJ waited almost 2 years to make his signature trade - Rask for Raycroft - and as we all know, it was a total dud.

David Nonis didn't even make a signature trade during his time as the Leafs GM. Over two years in charge and almost 20 minor trades, but no big deals. No signature move.

So of the Leafs five most recent GMs - Dubas, Lamoriello, Burke, Nonis and Ferguson - the three good ones made their signature moves almost instantly and were not shy at all about making trades.

The two who are considered among the worst in franchise historty - JFJ and Nonis - did not take big swings and either waited a long time to do so or never even did.

Brad Treliving is starting to look like he's in the later group.

He has made eight trades with the Leafs so far, none of them significant enough to be called his signature move.

Treliving traded Sam Lafferty to Vancouver, he traded for Chris Tanev's rights, for Joel Edmundson, Connor Dewar and Ilya Lyubushkin. He also made two trades at the draft to trade down for extra picks. His only other trade was to get Cale Weber from Nashville for a 6th round pick.

None of those are significant trades.

It's been over a year, and so far we have learned that Treliving doesn't like to make trades in-season, at the trade deadline or at the draft.

Maybe He just doesn't like making trades? Maybe he's afraid? It kind of seems like he is. All I know, is that if I was the GM of a hockey team, I'd be addicted to making huge trades - it's the best part of the job.

I also don't think it's a co-oincidence that the most successful GMs seem to be the ones who are risk-happy gunslingers when it comes to making trades.