After Monday’s practice, GM Brad Treliving discussed the team’s strengths and weaknesses in the first half of the season, trade deadline planning, a possible need at center ice, and the contract situations of Matthew Knies, John Tavares, and Mitch Marner.
Opening Statements on the Maple Leafs’ first half of the 2024-25 regular season
Treliving: We just passed the halfway mark when we were on the road, so I just thought I’d answer any questions [the media] has.
As a general statement on the first half, there have been a lot of good things. Probably the overriding theme in the first half is that we’ve had a lot of injuries, right? We’ve had a lot of people out of the lineup.
I am proud of how the group has responded. They have been able to bank points in different ways. I am happy with a couple of things we talked about at the beginning of the year. In terms of our ability to improve our checking game and defending game, I think we’ve done that. I think we are viewed as a team that checks well, defends the front of our net, and doesn’t give up a lot of easy ice.
The penalty kill was an area, when looking back at last year, that we certainly wanted to improve upon, and we have.
There are some good things, being able to withstand some of the injuries that we’ve had. If I look at the team, the goaltending has been a real strength of our team. Obviously, with Stolarz going down for the last three weeks or so, Joseph Woll has really carried the ball. We’ve had Dennis Hildeby and Matt Murray come in. We’ve shown some depth there.
There are definitely some areas we need to clean up moving forward. Hopefully, with health and some stability in our lineup, we get a look at what the group looks like as it was originally constructed.
There are some areas (for improvement): The power play and our ability to generate a little more offense at five-on-five — we’ve seen it in spurts — are certainly some areas we can clean up.
Q&A
Has it surprised you that the power play and five-on-five scoring aren’t quite clicking?
Treliving: The power play, certainly, is an area where we should be a top team, and it has been a top power play for a number of years. To me, that is an area that can get cleaned up.
The five-on-five scoring — again, it goes in fits and starts, right? You talk about the top guys, and for the early part of our season, it seemed like some of the big boys carried us, and then we had some depth scoring. It sort of goes back and forth. I think the pieces are in place there, and we should score enough.
Certainly, the power play is an area that needs to be a difference-maker for us. It hasn’t been right now. That is certainly an area of focus.
With the trade deadline two months away, how much is it starting to factor into your thinking?
Treliving: You are always watching. I know a lot gets made of the deadline, but you are always looking at ways you can improve your team, right? It is not always just external.
The one thing with the injuries this year, and the number of injuries we’ve had up front, is that we have been able to look at what we have internally, which is important. We have some seen guys come up and play well. It gives you a little insight into what you have within the organization.
Guys get put into different roles. Guys from the Marlies come up. The Marlies are having a heck of a year as well.
We have had our pro scouting meetings. We’ve had our amateur scout meetings this past week. We are meeting’d out.
You are always assessing the market to see if there are ways external help could help you.
How much of the future are you willing to mortgage to make a run now?
Treliving: That is a pretty open-ended question.
That is the balance. You have to see what is available. It is not fantasy hockey. You have to see what is available.
You need to have good young players on entry-level deals making lower money. Those help you succeed as well. It is a balance.
Certainly, we will look to see what is available in the marketplace and, ultimately, what the cost is to see if there are any fits.
Did you see enough from Fraser Minten to lead you to believe he could come back up and help when the games mean the most later in the season?
Treliving: Fraser is having a real good year. He had a great start with us when he came up, and you just saw the effects of the league on a young player. It is a hard league. He is a first-year guy.
I think the world of Fraser. Is he a guy who can help us? I think he can help us. Is that now? Is it six months from now? Is it a year from now? We continue to look at it every day.
Is Fraser coming in ahead of somebody from the outside? I don’t know because I don’t know who that person is from the outside.
Those are all things you balance all of the time.
How do you view your center depth?
Treliving: I think we have depth. We have a lot of guys who can play the position. Is it an area we continue to try to upgrade?
I would say this: The guys at the top of the food chain are pretty darn good. There’s Auston, and how can you talk anything but positively about the year John has had? I don’t think it is realistic to say you are going to go and get somebody above that.
Are there ways we can continue to look adding to it? Sure. There is some depth there. Is that an area we want to continue to look at? Sure, it is one.
We probably, along with 15 or 18 other teams, are looking at center depth. This seems to be a position du jour.
What kind of centerman would you like to add?
Treliving: Did I say I was going to add a centerman?
Listen, you want good players. If there is one out there who fits, is reliable on both sides of the puck, and is someone who can add offense…
As I said, what you want and what is available are sometimes two different things. We will keep looking.
Having seen Auston Matthews come back the second time, are you confident that his health issue is behind him?
Treliving: He is doing well. The question was asked at the time, and nothing is ever 100%. We are all day-to-day, aren’t we?
We gave it a lot of time, and he put a lot of work into getting through it. Touch wood that we are on the other side of it.
You can see by his play since he has been back that he is feeling good. We are hopeful it is behind him.
Is Matthews’ participation in the Four Nations going to be a conversation at some point?
Treliving: Yeah, when we get there. There is nothing at this point that makes me worry about that, but we are still a month away or so. With all of the players, you look at where they are at the time, and hopefully, there are no setbacks, and everything keeps moving forward.
Is there any update on Matthew Knies, Mitch Marner, or John Tavares regarding possible extensions?
Treliving: Oh, those are things we are always looking at, talking about, and rumbling around, but there is nothing to report right now.
Hwo important is it to gain clarity on the Tavares and Marner contract situations before the deadline so you can plan for the cap moving forward?
Treliving: Certainly, having guys signed gives you the exact number. You can probably throw a dart within the vicinity if they are not signed. Certainly, having guys signed means you know exactly what their number is.
Again, you keep working at it. Until there is a deal, there is not a deal.
