In an end-of-season interview, General Manager Brad Treliving discussed his working relationship with Craig Berube, Matthew Knies’ next contract, some of his depth forwards (Nick Robertson, Pontus Holmberg, and Calle Jarnkrok), and whether it is a priority to upgrade at center.
When Keith Pelley spoke, he talked about Craig Berube getting involved more in the day-to-day decisions. What could that look like?
Treliving: I don’t think anything changes. The way I have done it with all coaches: I don’t go down there one day and say, “Chief, I just brought in two players, and you are going to like them. Bob and Fred are right behind you.” We talk all the time.
It’s similar to Craig. He doesn’t show up one day and say, “By the way, I am playing [Tanev] at center.” We talk all the time. I think you have to as a coach.
He is always involved. I get his opinions. We have dinner five days a week. It is a very close relationship, so there is always discussion, and he is involved.
At the end of the day, managers manage and coaches coach, but I believe — and maybe other people do it differently — that you have to have a close relationship with your coach. You have to get his input. You have to know what he likes.
That will continue, but I don’t see it as a whole lot of different change. He has his responsibilities that, at the end of the day, he is responsible for. I have my responsibilities. But I look at it as a partnership. We are partners, and that is the way it works best.
At the end of the Florida series, why do you think the team struggled to break through offensively?
Treliving: It is tight checking. There are not a lot of goals.
It is another area, too. The easy answer is that we need more participants. But if you look at playoff hockey, it happens every year, right? Dallas was rolling along, and then they were trying to find goals. You have to give credit to our opponent. It is a tough opponent. We had to find ways to get inside on a more consistent basis.
If you look at it, Game 7 is a good example. What did we have — two or three breakaways? We had some opportunities. In those games, you are not going to get a lot. You have to find a way to make sure you capitalize on the ones you do get.
To me, we had to find a way to get a little more inside on a regular basis, and then the times that we did have those opportunities, we have to cash.
When you said in your press conference that it has been “emotional” for Mitch Marner, what did you mean by that?
Treliving: What I meant by that wasn’t necessarily Mitch. It is emotional at the end of the season, right? We end the season, and you are miserable. Two days later, we all get together, and you do exit meetings. It is emotional. We are emotional. This one is going to stay (with us) for a while.
I wasn’t speaking directly about Mitch. It is emotion, and you have to kind of let it die down. You have to get composed, think clearly, and then start going through the process.
Someone mentioned people getting offered contracts… I didn’t mean no, but you have to let everything die. You have to let the emotions subside, and then you have to start to move forward.
There is the emotion of the human side, too. The President who hired you to do this job has been fired after the team lost in the playoffs. That is a lot for a person to handle.
Treliving: That is another part. The last week has been a lot of stuff. We lose, and you are going through it. And then Brendan’s stuff comes up. My wife gave me the price of the graduation dress we bought. Like, there is a lot of emotion. You are dealing with a lot of stuff.
You can make a lot of decisions when you are emotional. About a week later, you might want a redo. That is what I was speaking about.
On Matthew Knies, would you prefer a long-term contract, or do you prefer a bridge?
Treliving: We will see. There are two parties here.
I think Matthew is just scratching the surface. We will see what fits for us and what fits for them. I see him as a long-term player here.
We have to see. I am not trying to be elusive. You’d always like to try to sign them all for as long and as least as you can, and then you get disappointed from that day forward.
Listen, he is a hell of a player. We are working on it.
Is Knies now an Olympic candidate?
Treliving: I mean, I am biased. I don’t know the roster, but I think yeah. Yeah. There are probably guys on that 4 Nations last year who, last summer, you might have said, “I don’t know if they are on the 4 Nations.”
We have some time until the Olympics — February — so there are 50 games or whatever we’ll play. He has to be putting himself on the map a little bit, no?
How would you assess Morgan Rielly’s season? Why do you think it didn’t go as smoothly for him this year?
Treliving: I break Morgan’s season more into two parts. His second half was better than his first half. There was an adjustment period for him. There was a focus more on trying to be harder defensively. I think he lost a little bit of his… You still have to get up and do what you do offensively, and I thought that came back more in the second half of the season.
After the deadline, there was a real good chemistry. I am not making excuses for him, but if you look back, he bounced around a little bit with partners until [Brandon Carlo] got here. I thought they had good chemistry.
As with all of us, there is still more there, but I thought those things contributed. He was back to getting up the ice more and getting involved in the second half than he was in the first half.
When you take a look at the depth players who were in and out of the lineup — Nick Robertson, Pontus Holmberg, and Calle Jarnkrok — what was your takeaway from what they brought to the team and their future?
Treliving: The future… We will see, right? They all do a little bit of different things. I like them. We’ll see.
Pontus sort of bounced around. We have to determine if he is a center or a winger and what that contract looks like. I like the kid. He has some heaviness. He doesn’t get pushed out of heavy games in the playoffs.
When did Calle start playing? The last six weeks of the season or something? It was a tough year for him. He was out all of the year, so it is a tough one to evaluate. He is a smart player, and he is healthy (now).
I give Robbie a lot of credit. He had stretches. He can shoot the puck. His challenge is becoming a regular. You can always debate whether it is “opportunity, and then it comes,” or “do it more regularly, and you get more opportunity.”
We have to determine with all three guys, like with all players, where we will go going forward. Again, it is not to be elusive, but I don’t know. We’re early yet.
How much will you prioritize upgrading at center ice?
Treliving: It is funny, right? I know the talk is out there. Center and right D are the hard positions to find. I think you win through the spine of your team that way. We always heard talk that “We have to get a second-line center.” The guy who was playing it had 38 goals. To go find someone who scored more than that was hard.
Center is a priority. Having said that, there are probably 26 other teams that are saying it is a priority. It is an area.
I am a big fan of John. He had a hell of a year. We will see how it all goes. You’d always like more centers — to have six centers. You can always push a guy to the wing. Is hard to try to move (a winger) to the middle.
We will see how it goes.
