A grim Brad Treliving puts Maple Leafs’ failures on his own shoulders

Article content

Subdued and not overly optimistic.

Article content

That about sums up Maple Leafs general manager Brad Treliving, not that anything else could have been expected, once the National Hockey League trade deadline came and went on Friday afternoon.

Article content

Article content

We’re not referring to what turned out to be an underwhelming day on the trade front for Treliving, who got a total of three draft picks — none in the first round — in separate deals involving forwards Bobby McMann and Scott Laughton.

It’s more about what Treliving was thinking about the regular season as a whole.

The Leafs’ disappointing and at times embarrassing play through the 2025-26 campaign has put them in the lower echelon of the Eastern Conference, and with 19 games remaining, there’s no sense that much good will come from what’s left on the schedule.

Article content

Article content

“I’ll take responsibility for our season,” Treliving said in the Leafs’ dressing room at the Ford Performance Centre. “I don’t look at today as the autopsy day. I think there’s a whole host of reasons (for the Leafs’ failures). I’ll take responsibility.

“We got off to a poor start. From my standpoint, (there are) some roster construction issues, lack of consistency, the ability to maintain any kind of level. There’s been a whole bunch of factors. But we’ll get to that in due course.”

Treliving already went down that road.

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

Play Video

What does Treliving see in the future for Leafs?

We have to keep in mind that there’s a good possibility it won’t be Treliving in charge to make the off-season decisions.

Only MLSE president Keith Pelley knows what’s in store for Treliving, who is winding down his third year on the job.

Article content

Treliving said “there has to be some change.”

That couldn’t be more obvious. He said that none of the Leafs’ no-move clause players were approached before the deadline about waiving, a group that includes captain Auston Matthews, William Nylander, John Tavares and Morgan Rielly.

With the playoff losses of the past now compounded by this dismal regular season, the core will come under greater scrutiny than it has before.

“We can look back at a big chunk of this team and the year that they had last year (in winning the Atlantic Division before losing to Florida in the second round), but this is this year and and you have to sit down and be real analytical.

“You have to be real clear, and you have to be real honest to where you’re at, and at that point, make some decisions.”

Article content

Treliving also said “it’s important” that the direction of the organization has to be communicated to a hugely frustrated fan base, but “how and what that is” will be determined.

Again, someone else might have clearer answers in the coming months.

Where does Treliving stand with the work of coach Craig Berube?

Despite the Leafs’ woes — they’re at or near the bottom of many defensive categories — Treliving called Berube “a terrific coach.”

That description simply doesn’t apply to what the Leafs have done in 2025-26.

There’s not a good argument that can be made right now for retaining Berube.

Article content

“It hasn’t worked, right?” Treliving said, taking a wider view. “So when it doesn’t work, we all share a blame, and we all share responsibility in it.

“It starts with myself. It’s the coaches, it’s the players. We all are partners in this thing, and when it goes poorly, we all have responsibility for it. But to do a summation right now, I think is premature. Like everything else, we’ll review at the end of the year.”

When did Treliving know he was going to be a seller and not a buyer?

The Leafs’ 0-4-2 mark in their first six games after the Olympics ended didn’t carry a decisive weight for Treliving. He’s had the idea for a while that his team was in trouble.

“You always hold out hope,” Treliving said. “But there’s been just so much inconsistency, going back to October, November, there’s been injuries. Everybody has injuries. The significant ones for us were in goal over the course of the first couple of months.

Article content

“Chris Tanev has been a big loss. But if you’re deep enough and you’re good enough, you can overcome those things. We never were able to consistently get traction. I’ve been concerned for a while.”

An inability to build depth is on the GM’s shoulders. That doesn’t need to be explained.

And despite recognizing that the season was progressing poorly, the biggest move that was made was to fire assistant coach Marc Savard in December. No big trade. No replacement of Berube.

The Leafs had an 8-0-2 run after Christmas, capped by an overtime win in Colorado on Jan. 12. That victory put the Leafs into a wildcard spot for the first time since Nov. 7, but they were able to hold onto it for a mere 48 hours.

They didn’t get back to a playoff spot again.

tkoshan@postmedia.com

X: @koshtorontosun

Article content