After the trade deadline, Maple Leafs GM Brad Treliving joined Real Kyper & Bourne to discuss the deadline moves, the unclear direction moving forward, and the message to the players during the final 19 games of the season.
When did it hit you that you were going to be in sell mode at the deadline? Was it prior to the Olympics? Did you need the first three or four games after the break?
Treliving: I have not been feeling great for a long time with how we’ve been playing. Early in the season, we looked at as many options as we could to help bolster our team. But as far as probably getting into what happened over the last few days or the direction of it, it was prior to the break. You have to plan and prepare.
We weren’t coming out of the break and praying we were going to win games and change the direction. You watch your team, not only from a point production and win-loss standpoint, but also from a point of view of how you’re playing and what is happening around the league.
We were active prior to the break and throughout the break, talking to teams and getting a feel for what they thought of players we may make available or could be available, and if there were fits for them. This process probably started just prior to the break and throughout the break.
Is it fair to say the team does want to retool and be competitive next season? If that is the case, is it the age and contract status of Auston Matthews that has you in that situation?
Treliving: You have to look at all sorts of things. To me, today and leading up to today was an opportunity to try to get as many young assets as you can, to retool or refigure your team, or whatever “re” word you want to use. You need to have as many bullets as you possibly can. That was the objective over the course of the last few weeks.
There was very limited activity prior to the freeze, and obviously, no activity throughout the freeze. There was not a whole lot going on until the last couple of days.
There needs to be change to our team. We need to reconfigure ourselves. I know, when things have gone the way they’ve gone this year, there will be lots of noise that everything has to go out the door. I don’t necessarily see it that way, but there has to be some change here.
There are a lot of things we’ve discussed, and there is a plan that you formulate. We have 19 games to get through, and as we get to the end of the year, you have a plan you’re going to look to execute. But no doubt, there needs to be change. What we were trying to execute is to get as many bullets as you possibly can in terms of picks, prospects, and the like to affect that change.
Two years ago, you said, “Everything has to be on the table.” Are we back there again?
Treliving: I am not here to make any profound statements. This is where we are right now, and there has to be change to the hockey club. I get it. We all want a line or statement here.
You are never going to be closed-minded. We made a lot of different things available as we went into this deadline, trying to be as creative as we possibly could. Ultimately, it comes back to: There is a team on the other line that needs to find A) a want and fit, and B) be willing to give a price for your players.
We all think everyone is worth two first-round picks or this and that, but ultimately, the market will dictate. The people buying will dictate what they’re prepared to pay.
We have gotten through the deadline. We have 19 games to play. We have some players we want to look at over the course of the 19 games. As we get into spring and summer, you evaluate the season that’s been and go from there.
Leafs fans want to know if there is a gameplan. Between ownership, Keith Pelley, yourself, and Craig Berube, do you have a gameplan that will either get the Leafs back into playoff contention as early as next year, or maybe later than that? Is there a plan? Are you confident you are the GM who can lead it?
Treliving: We definitely will have a plan. There is a plan we will have put together.
As far as myself, those decisions will be made by others. I want to correct the things… As I’ve said, we have not had success this season. It has been a disappointing season, and it starts with myself. I’ll take full responsibility for it. I know the areas we need to get better in.
Ultimately, it is for someone else to judge. I don’t spend a whole lot of time worrying about that. I worry about doing the best job I can with our staff and doing what needs to be done to put this team back where it should be. Certainly, I take full responsibility for the failures of this season.
Now, we move forward and do the very best job we can to put this team in a position to move forward.
Would there be any intention to use some of the assets acquired today, perhaps at the draft, to bring back realized players, rather than using them to pick young kids?
Treliving: Those are all things you look at. I wouldn’t say there is anything off the table. This deadline was about accruing as much as you can. You are looking at, “Are there players we can get before the deadline expires today?” You are trying to swim in both pools.
Certainly, we have acquired some draft assets. Our hope was to accrue more young players, but certainly, whether it’s using picks in the draft or acquiring other players, those are all things you evaluate and decide on moving forward.
When it comes to your leadership player group, are you still confident it is a good one that can take the team back to contention? Does that need to be revisited?
Treliving: I know everybody talks about the leadership group. Listen, we all own this. It starts with myself. When you have the season we’ve had, the first part of that acceptance or realization is accountability. We are all accountable. It starts with myself, our coaches, our players — all of us have underperformed as a group. I know the players would feel the exact same way.
I have all the confidence in the world in Auston. I have confidence in our leadership group. I have confidence in the players. But, ultimately, the results tell the story.
Today, there is always a lot of weight. When you go through a couple of the games we’ve gone through coming out of the break, it is certainly not good enough. We all want to say, “The players quit.” The players haven’t quit. They haven’t given up. It is not an excuse, but there is a weight when you have a realization of where you’re at, when you have a realization you’re not in the position you want to be in, and when you have a realization the trade deadline is coming up. We have a lot of players who haven’t gone through that.
This group cares. They care deeply about having success. We haven’t accomplished that, so there is a weight that comes with it.
We are past the deadline now. We have 19 games to go. We’re professionals in the best league in the world. There is now a responsibility to do the job to the best of your ability, and that is what I anticipate and expect from our group.
Three players sat out this week’s games. Did you have deals in the drawer and were waiting to see if teams could up the offers? What was the process like over the last few days?
Treliving: No, I had no deals on any of those players. There were conversations with teams that had an interest in possibly talking about those players, but when you have two players who are UFAs, and with the position we were in, I just didn’t think it was worth the risk to put those players in a position where an injury could affect the ability to move them.
It was clear for some time now that we weren’t going to be in a position to sign those players. Probably, it was more so the position our team was in. We had to accumulate as many assets as we could.
I don’t get the play-by-play of what is going on (in the media); I get some of the summaries, but some of the things out there that deals were close in terms of contracts — there really hasn’t been any dialogue to that description for some time. Some of that is potentially where those contracts could be at, but it’s more so knowing where our team is at and knowing we needed to collect some assets.
I spoke to all three players. Obviously, Scott and Bobby are unrestricted players. And I spoke to Oliver. There had been some dialogue over the past few days with teams that may have an interest in Oliver. We just felt, at that time, if there was something that could possibly happen, it made sense to make sure we took the course we took to be safe rather than sorry.
It has been well-documented what you paid last year for Scott Laughton and what you ultimately traded him for. Was there a temptation to keep and sign him? Or was there a mandate to recover the assets on these particular UFAs?
Treliving: There wasn’t a mandate, but certainly, we paid a price for Scott. I am not going to hide behind that. At the time, it was what was required. We made the decision to acquire Scott last year at the price we did. I am not making any excuses. With the availability of players last year, and where we were as a team, we knew the price was steep. We wanted to add a centerman…
But when you hear the comments from everyone on the team about Laughton’s character, was there a temptation to sign him at all?
Treliving: For sure. We can call it a temptation; there certainly was a willingness to sign him. But when you look at both sides of it, there wasn’t a contract we could get done, and we felt we needed to gain as many assets as we could.
I don’t know if I can speak highly enough of Scott Laughton in terms of the character he is, what he has brought to our room, and the quality of person he is. This is an elite teammate and a great person.
It is me making this decision, and what I didn’t feel we could do is get to the buzzer today without either Scott signed or an asset returned. That is where it was.
By no means is it any indictment of Scott, the person, or what we think of him.
What are your thoughts on how these players were used by Craig Berube and the coaching staff? He is the coach, and you are the GM, but is there ever a time when you acquire players and say, “God, I wish we would use him a little bit more, or differently?” How do you sort out ice time allocation once you make moves?
Treliving: You are constantly in conversation with Craig. There is no lack of communication. Ultimately, I firmly believe that the coach has full autonomy over the lineup card. Do we talk about the lineup? Do we talk about players? Constantly, every day. Do I share ideas? Absolutely. We do that all the time.
Ultimately, you have to let the coaches coach. We all have our jobs to do. To think that there is no communication is completely wrong. We speak all the time. We communicate about different thought processes. But that is the responsibility and job of the coach: to use players as he sees best fit to win the game. I believe strongly that you have to grant your coach that flexibility.
The coach-manager relationship is one where there is constant communication. We talk all day, every day. That doesn’t change. Ultimately, the coach fills out the lineup card and uses players in the situations that he feels are best for the team to win.
19 more games are a lot of games remaining. What is the message to the players from you and Craig Berube in terms of expectations for these final games?
Treliving: The expectation is that you are a professional with a job to do. It is a privilege to be in the league every day. We are not where we want to be or expected to be, but we are where we are. Get over it.
You get to play in one of the greatest franchises in pro sports in front of the greatest fan bases in pro sports, in the best league in the world. There shouldn’t be any lack of motivation.
I get it. It is not easy. It is not where we want to be. But we have gotten through today. The expectation is that you go out, play hard, compete, and be a professional every day that you’re in the league.
