On the first day of the NHL GM meetings in Florida, GM Brad Treliving discussed Matthews’ injury, the Radko Gudas suspension, and the Leafs’ path forward heading into the offseason with TSN’s Geno Reda.
Most importantly, how is Auston Matthews doing? What are you seeing as the timeline for his injury?
Treliving: Well, he is doing okay. As we said, we will probably know a little bit more in terms of the next steps over the next few days. That will determine the timeline, whether there is a surgical procedure or not. All things being equal, he is doing as well as he can at this particular time. We’ll see where things go as we continue to review what the next steps are.
How soon do you need to hear from Matthews and his camp about his future, as you determine the direction the organization takes from here?
Treliving: Auston is under contract. As we do with all of our players, we’ll talk about things as we get into the offseason. Our focus right now is that we have 15 games or so — 14 games — ahead of us to finish out the year. We will dive into all of those issues later.
The five-game suspension to Radko Gudas created quite the uproar around the league. Where do you stand on it?
Treliving: In any of those types of situations, I’ve made my feelings clear to George (Parros). I get it. It is a difficult job. I just felt strongly that the event itself — the hit, the play, the injury, and the player history — all leaned toward something that would be larger than that. But George has a job to do. As I said, a lot of those conversations I’ll leave behind closed doors, but we certainly felt that a stiffer penalty should’ve been had. But that is my feeling. We will leave it at that.
Leafs fans want to know timelines: How quickly can this team become a playoff team again, and how quickly could this team become a Cup contender again? Can you share your thoughts on those timelines?
Treliving: Those are things that, as we go forward, we have a plan to put into place. We have underperformed this year. As I said at the trade deadline, there are certainly some changes we need to make. All of those things are the plan we’ll formulate moving forward to get this team back to where we think it is capable of being.
Those questions will be answered, and we will certainly look forward to letting everyone know what our plans are as we get closer to the end of the season.
