Photo credit: Steven Ellis – Daily Faceoff
According to Sportsnet’s Luke Fox, there’s more than the standings Brad Treliving needs to worry about, as his plan over the next few days may determine if he stays.
But that struggle has also put a new focus towards Brad Treliving and how long he has left as GM of the Maple Leafs. While his job isn’t necessarily on the line come this week, he’s got lots of pressure to make the right decisions.
Brad Treliving’s job depends on more than just the Atlantic standings
It’s something that Luke Fox touched on as a guest on The FAN Pregame Show, and explained that it’s no necessarily the immediate focus that needs to be tended to, but that Treliving’s job could depend on whether or not he even has a plan:
It’s tricky, and you know I don’t think there’s a simple solution but the seat is warm, put it that way. I think he’s in triage mode, wrapping his head around their chances of salvaging this season and making the playoffs is basically a foregone conclusion and never planned for this.
We might not win the division but we’ll be in it. But now, they are thrown for a loop and they (Treliving, Pelley) are going to use this roster freeze to evaluate.
I hope it’s not a three month plan but a direction of where this franchise is going. What is the vision for even the next two years? I would like to hear some time of plan here.
It’s pretty much over for Toronto this season despite a pre-Olympic break winning streak, and while it would be an incredible feat for them to somehow come away with a playoff spot; that’s much easier said than done.
If Brad Treliving doesn’t have a plan, he probably shouldn’t have a job
If the team doesn’t sell high on their assets and have no real direction about the future and who to build around, it’s going to be more of the same disappointment as we’ve seen the last decade.
The front office has a few weeks to gather their intel and make a decision but they have to weigh the pros and cons. Sure, making the playoffs is great; but are they even built to last? Does a Luke Schenn trade solve everything? Do you mortgage your future again to hope a star like Artemi Panarin will stick around?
This is a franchise desperate for real change and the only way to do that is to stop hoping for a playoff push and realize that the youth movement matters. San Jose went from laughingstock to playoff contender because they built their team around their young players and let them play.
You have guys like Jacob Quillan and William Villeneuve who have been toiling in the AHL just nipping at the bud for a chance but Craig Berube and Toronto are too stubborn to use them and prefer to throw out lacklustre veterans to eat up eight minutes a night.
It’s time to realize that the Maple Leafs are no longer the powerhouse they were and their cupboards laid bare after so many mismanaged deals.
But Brad Treliving has a chance to rectify that situation, though if he doesn’t then he probably shouldn’t be leading the team at all.
Previously on Hockey Patrol
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Brad Treliving’s next few days matter more than the standings
Should Brad Treliving be fired if the Maple Leafs don’t make any meaningful trades?