{"id":533113,"date":"2026-03-31T16:46:13","date_gmt":"2026-03-31T16:46:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/533113\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T16:46:13","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T16:46:13","slug":"when-was-the-decision-made-to-fire-brad-treliving","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/533113\/","title":{"rendered":"When was the decision made to fire Brad Treliving?"},"content":{"rendered":"

TSN Hockey Insider Darren Dreger joins Gino Reda to discuss the timing of the Maple Leafs\u2019 decision to fire general manager Brad Treliving, how this move will impact the direction of the team moving forward and Auston Matthews<\/a>\u2019 future, Keith Pelley\u2019s involvement in day-to-day operations, Doug Armstrong\u2019s name being tied to Toronto and more.<\/p>\n

Reda: I think we all have clarity on why the Toronto Maple Leafs<\/a> decided to make a change at general manager. What could be somewhat confusing though is why do that right now? To talk about that and more, here\u2019s our insider Darren Dreger.<\/p>\n

Dregs, what\u2019s with the timing of this? Why not wait until the end of the regular season and then begin the wholesale changes?<\/p>\n

Dreger: Yeah, I mean, ultimately, Gino, it came down to a meeting between Keith Pelley and Brad Treliving on Monday when it was decided that you\u2019re right, there is no reason to test inevitability. Brad Treliving knew that he was not coming back as general manager and Keith Pelley knew that they were going in a different direction. So formally they made the decision to fire Brad Treliving on Monday.<\/p>\n

But what\u2019s curious about this, look, as I said Monday night as part of our coverage on SportsCentre, it\u2019s not like Brad Treliving is hiding from his responsibility. The Toronto Maple Leafs<\/a>, through injury and otherwise, have had a brutal year.<\/p>\n

But Gino, at one point during the Olympic break, according to sources, Treliving and Keith Pelley actually talked initially about conversations around Brad Treliving\u2019s extension as general manager with the Maple Leafs. So, I think it\u2019s just based on the fact that the season continued to unravel and got worse coming out of the Olympics. And clearly, Keith Pelley and ownership decided that they had to go in a different direction.<\/p>\n

Reda: Okay, so now the next significant question that needs to be answered. How do you define the way this organization moves forward? A retool, which could be a year, maybe two, or a rebuild, which could be four or six years. That\u2019s part A of the question, Dregs.<\/p>\n

Part B of the question is, once you decide that, is it incumbent on you to go to Auston Matthews<\/a> and say, this is the direction we\u2019re thinking of going. Are you with us on this? Do you want to stick with us through this?<\/p>\n

Dreger: I believe that those conversations with Treliving as general manager would have already taken place. Now, if there\u2019s a shift in vision or strategy or direction when the new regime is brought in, well, that is going to be a hurdle that they\u2019re going to have to cross with Auston Matthews<\/a>, maybe William Nylander<\/a>, John Tavares<\/a>, the leadership core of the Toronto Maple Leafs<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Gino, you know Treliving. I mean, he is a very communicative general manager. So, I do believe that he had those conversations with his captain and he shared his vision. His vision wasn\u2019t a teardown, take it down to the studs. His vision was to add some pieces to make the Toronto Maple Leafs<\/a> a playoff-worthy team again as early as next season. And I think that would align with ownership of the Toronto Maple Leafs<\/a> as well. We know the tens of millions of dollars that the Toronto Maple Leafs<\/a> \u2013 MLSE \u2013 makes when the Maple Leafs are a playoff team. That\u2019s tough to push away from.<\/p>\n

So, if there\u2019s a different vision with the hiring of a new general manager, maybe a president of hockey operations, that might be a tough sell for Auston Matthews<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Reda: Dregs, you and I were there when Keith Pelley took over the organization. And one of the things we all walked away with, wow, he\u2019s not hiring a team president. Which was curious that Pelley wanted that role on his own, which, of course, then begs the question: From what we\u2019ve seen through his almost two years now, leading the organization, how much involvement has Keith Pelley had in the day-to-day hockey operations to this point?<\/p>\n

Dreger: Well, the perception is that he was heavily involved. He absolutely was, especially around the trade deadline where he didn\u2019t shy away from presenting an opinion or his input on certain players, on certain things that the organization should consider, maybe selling off more than what they did at the trade deadline. At the end of the day, it came down to what the offers were on Scott Laughton<\/a> or Bobby McMann<\/a>, to name a couple of key pieces that were moved out.<\/p>\n

But I believe that Keith Pelley was pushing. But Gino, I think it\u2019s important to recognize here that Keith Pelley doesn\u2019t have the same dynamic as Brendan Shanahan<\/a>. I mean, Brendan Shanahan<\/a>\u2019s a Hockey Hall of Famer. So of course, he worked in step with Brad Treliving. And I think more and more as the year evolved, Keith Pelley wanted to inject himself into hockey operations. And at times, that was a challenge.<\/p>\n

Reda: Alright, the name Doug Armstrong. Let\u2019s go there. You and I spent some time with him and we were pummeling him with questions at the GM meetings asking, what are you going to do next? We know he\u2019s releasing the reins as general manager in St. Louis, but he\u2019s staying on there in the hierarchy.<\/p>\n

His name\u2019s been bandied about as potentially stepping into Toronto as maybe general manager and maybe even president as well. Is he the leading candidate from this? What are you hearing on that front right now?<\/p>\n

Dreger: I don\u2019t think we can call him a leading candidate other than what the world of speculation has provided over the last several weeks. This isn\u2019t a new story involving Doug Armstrong.<\/p>\n

You know, the situation is real in Toronto, Gino. Being the general manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs<\/a> isn\u2019t the same as being the general manager of pretty much every club in the National Hockey League. It comes with higher level of responsibility.<\/p>\n

So, because of that, you do have to look at experienced candidates and who might be the best fit. And in that regard, then Doug Armstrong of the St. Louis Blues<\/a> would be considered that. But Armstrong is under contract. He doesn\u2019t have an out in his deal. So, if the Toronto Maple Leafs<\/a> have targeted Doug Armstrong, then Keith Pelley and ownership of the Maple Leafs are going to have to contact ownership of the St. Louis Blues<\/a> and get permission before this story moves any further.<\/p>\n

And, again, Doug Armstrong has elevated Alex Steen to the role of general manager. So, I don\u2019t know that he wants to entirely abandon ship either. He doesn\u2019t control the whirlwind of speculation out there. So that\u2019s why his name primarily is at the top of the list.<\/p>\n

But I think that you have to throw Kevyn Adams<\/a> in the mix, he essentially is the architect of the Buffalo Sabres<\/a>. I\u2019m told that Rob Blake<\/a> probably doesn\u2019t have keen interest. And then the Chris Pronger<\/a> speculation as to maybe there\u2019s an office for him in the new rebuild of the Toronto Maple Leafs<\/a> front office is possible as well. There are a number of names and I\u2019m sure that list will grow in the days ahead here, Gino.<\/p>\n

Reda: I got one more question for you, Dregs, and I\u2019m sure it\u2019s the question all Leaf fans want to ask right now is: how long? How long is this going to take to get this thing back on the rails? In your conversations with people behind the scenes, are you getting the sense that this is going to be a short turnaround process, or should Leaf fans entrench themselves in the thought that this is going to take a while?<\/p>\n

Dreger: Well, it depends on what you\u2019re talking about. If you\u2019re talking about the roster and the potential of a renovation or a retool, yeah, that\u2019s up to new management to decide whether or not there\u2019s more work that has to be done or if it\u2019s simply adding pieces.<\/p>\n

I think that most from the outside would look at the Toronto Maple Leafs<\/a> organization and go, there\u2019s a lot more work that needs to get done. We\u2019re going to hear from Keith Pelley in terms of the direction and how swift he wants to act. But the fact that they\u2019ve made the decision and they pushed away from Brad Treliving does buy them a little bit more time to formulate their strategy, get their long list together, and then they can begin their process from there.<\/p>\n

Reda: Alright, that\u2019s early Insider Trading with Darren Dreger on a day where there\u2019s a lot of news coming down. Dregs, CJ, Pierre, and I will bring you the full version of Insider Trading coming up on the early edition of SportsCentre.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"TSN Hockey Insider Darren Dreger joins Gino Reda to discuss the timing of the Maple Leafs\u2019 decision to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":471786,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5106],"tags":[4759,5,20,5172,4,32428,66,31,32467,5171],"class_list":{"0":"post-533113","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-toronto-maple-leafs","8":"tag-apple-news","9":"tag-hockey","10":"tag-maple-leafs","11":"tag-mapleleafs","12":"tag-nhl","13":"tag-nhl-sports-hockey-league-nhl","14":"tag-toronto","15":"tag-toronto-maple-leafs","16":"tag-toronto-maple-leafs-sports-hockey-team-team-nhl-api-10","17":"tag-torontomapleleafs"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/116324806418150965","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/533113","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=533113"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/533113\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/471786"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=533113"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=533113"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=533113"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}