The Toronto Maple Leafs upgraded their team at the NHL Trade Deadline, but they most likely didn't do enough to win the Atlantic Division, despite Brad Treliving's best efforts.
Mitch Marner wants to continue to be a member of the Toronto Maple Leafs, but he doesn't want to sign the contract he's been offered. Will Treliving and Shanahan budge, or will they even be the one's employed by the team Marner hits free agency?
That's the biggest question in Leafs Land right now, and I feel like I've completely changed my mind about Treliving after this year's NHL Trade Deadline. The Leafs sort of improved their 3C and found a top-four defenseman, but most importantly, they were willing to take a swing at Mikko Rantanen. That trade obviously never happened but it feels like he did everything he could to acquire him and that's all you can ask when Marner has a no-trade clause.
The Leafs had the opportunity to trade Marner prior to July 1, 2023, as his clause only kicked in for the last two seasons, but as well know, that never transpired and I can't really blame them. After finally winning a playoff round in 2023, the Leafs have re-signed Matthews and Nylander keeping the core alive for another two years.
If we play revisionist history, should the Leafs have traded Marner when they had the chance? Well, unfortunately Shanahan fired Kyle Dubas and we never got that opportunity. If Dubas was still the GM, I seriously think he would have traded Marner at that time and we would have saw the team move in a different direction.
However, with Treliving accepting the job only a few days before that clause kicked in, Shanahan was never going to allow his GM to trade one of his stars during the first week on the job. Instead, Treliving looked at what he had and spent the 2023-24 season figuring out how he can improve it. He looked directly at the defense and we sit here in March, 2025, I think he did a great job at making the defense and goaltending much better.
Leafs should keep Treliving, move on from Shanahan
That's a big win right now and this Leafs roster is as good as it's been in years. Unfortunately, despite this roster being very balanced now, it most likely won't be good enough to beat Tampa Bay and Florida and the team will probably falter again in the First Round.
So, when the team ultimately fails in the playoffs again, what will newly appointed CEO Keith Pelley do? Will he fire Shanahan and Treliving to make a huge splash or will he keep one, or both? Shanahan has been with the organization for 10-plus years and has done a lot of good things. He's helped bring back the history of the Leafs and after a rebuild has helped this team make the playoffs for nine straight seasons.
As for Treliving, he's only been on the job for two years. We've seen the changes he's already made and it feels like he's ready to move on from the core-four, which I think is a positive move.
The Leafs don't need a rebuild and don't need to be blown up. Their core of Nylander, Mathews, Rielly, Tanev, Ekman-Larsson, Carlo, McCabe, Stolarz and Woll are all under contract until at least 2026, so they are still in a great window to win. However, Marner and them are clearly fair off in contract negotiations and the organization can't budge.
I think the Shanaplan must end after this season, but Treliving can stay, for one more year. After years of being a non-agressive GM, he finally seems like he's ready to push all of his chips in and help this roster improve, and that's exactly the person we need moving forward.