Amidst team struggles and swirling rumors, Maple Leafs GM Brad Treliving affirmed that head coach Craig Berube (left) has his full support and emphatically denied that captain Auston Matthews (right) has asked for a trade.
The Toronto Maple Leafs are currently sitting in the basement of the Eastern Conference, a reality that seems almost unfathomable given the talent on the roster. When a team with these expectations hits rock bottom, the vultures usually circle the head coach first. However, Brad Treliving stepped up to the microphone Tuesday to firmly shut that door.
If you were expecting a scorched-earth press conference, you didn’t get it. Instead, we got the classic “vote of confidence”—but with a sacrificial lamb. Treliving made it abundantly clear: Craig Berube is going nowhere, and Auston Matthews hasn’t asked for a trade. But in this market, when the GM has to explicitly say “there is no disconnect,” you know the pressure cooker is whistling.
Here is the reality of the situation: Marc Savard was fired because someone had to pay for a 13.1% power play. It’s the easiest lever a GM can pull to show the fanbase he’s “doing something” without blowing up the core. But let’s be honest—is a new voice on the man-advantage going to fix a team that is 15-15-5?
The Truth Behind the Auston Matthews Trade Rumors
The most heart-stopping moment for Leafs Nation was the question regarding the captain. With Matthews posting just 14 goals in 30 games—a pedestrian pace by his Rocket Richard standards—speculation ran wild that he wanted out of this mess.
Treliving’s “No” was emphatic. But here is my personal insight: even if Matthews did want out, a GM would never admit it publicly mid-season unless a deal was done. That said, I believe Treliving here. The issue isn’t that Matthews wants to leave; the issue is that Matthews and the core look lost. Sitting 109th in league scoring isn’t a “slump” for a player of his caliber; it’s a crisis.
Treliving insists he isn’t waving the white flag. He claims he is looking to add, to find “collective solutions.” It’s a bold strategy for a last-place team. The firing of Savard buys Berube time, but not much. If the power play doesn’t spark immediately, and if Matthews doesn’t start looking like the MVP we know, the next press conference won’t be about assistant coaches. It will be about the architects of this roster.
The Leafs are banking on a turnaround, but in the NHL, hope is not a strategy.
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