{"id":533602,"date":"2026-03-31T22:23:19","date_gmt":"2026-03-31T22:23:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/533602\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T22:23:19","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T22:23:19","slug":"maple-leafs-fire-general-manager-brad-treliving-pro-hockey-rumors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/533602\/","title":{"rendered":"Maple Leafs Fire General Manager Brad Treliving \u2013 Pro Hockey Rumors"},"content":{"rendered":"

3\/31\/26:\u00a0In his press conference Tuesday, Pelley told the media<\/a> that Maple Leafs assistant general managers Brandon Pridham and Ryan Hardy will share the duties of interim general manager while the club conducts its search for its next full-time leader of hockey operations.<\/p>\n

Pridham has been widely speculated as a likely candidate for a potential promotion to the general manager position. The Athletic\u2019s Joshua Kloke wrote today<\/a> that Pridham is \u201crazor sharp\u201d and noted that he \u201chas been a candidate of interest for GM positions around the league previously.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hardy has been with the Maple Leafs since 2021-22, arriving there after a three-year stint as general manager of the USHL\u2019s Chicago Steel. In Chicago, he was the USHL\u2019s General Manager of the Year twice, and won the league\u2019s Clark Cup championship in 2021.<\/p>\n

In Toronto, he\u2019s served as GM of the team\u2019s AHL affiliate, the Toronto Marlies. Under his management, the Marlies have made the AHL\u2019s playoffs for three consecutive campaigns. They won the league\u2019s North Division in 2022-23 and defeated the Utica Comets in a first-round playoff series.<\/p>\n

3\/30\/26: With a disappointing season coming to a close, the Toronto Maple Leafs shared big news<\/a>; they\u2019re parting ways with General Manager Brad Treliving<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In a statement from Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment President & CEO Keith Pelley, it was said \u201cThroughout the course of the season, there has been deep analysis into both the current state of the Maple Leafs organization and the direction needed to achieve the ultimate goal of delivering a Stanley Cup championship to the city\u201d.<\/p>\n

There was no real need for Pelley to elaborate; it has long been apparent that change was needed. Named as the 18th GM in franchise history on May 31, 2023, the book closes on the Treliving era defined by its disappointment, cutting short one more year on his contract.<\/p>\n

Major question marks on Toronto\u2019s future already existed when he took the helm; fresh off another painful playoff defeat in the second round at the hands of the Florida Panthers. Still, there was reason for optimism, that perhaps a new voice could take what Kyle Dubas<\/a> had built and shape it into a true contender.<\/p>\n

In came Treliving, after serving as GM for the Calgary Flames from 2014-23, a strong period for the Alberta franchise. In his tenure, Calgary won two Pacific Division titles and were a real Western Conference threat. Shortly before his time ended though, Treliving dealt young superstar Matthew Tkachuk<\/a> to Florida in a highly scrutinized trade. It has netted the Panthers multiple Stanley Cups, while Calgary has fallen into a rebuild. Unfortunately, things haven\u2019t aged much better for the Maple Leafs either, who are in a far worse spot than they were three years ago.<\/p>\n

Treliving was reserved at first, adding veterans but holding their biggest assets. It was probably the right move to not go crazy on renovations out of the gate, but the patience didn\u2019t work out. Another heartbreaking Game 7 defeat by Boston, and it was time for real change.<\/p>\n

Thankfully keeping his first round selection, Treliving went with defenseman Ben Danford<\/a> in 2024. He didn\u2019t stop there, swinging a sign-and-trade with Chris Tanev<\/a>, reuniting from Calgary, with a six-year pact worth $4.5MM per year. The respected defender is exactly the player the Leafs needed, but he was already 34, and it was clearly a \u201cworry about it later\u201d contract.<\/p>\n

Then came the 2024-25 campaign, proving to be the team\u2019s most successful season under Treliving. Toronto finished fourth in the league with an impressive 52-26-4 record. Buzzing along with hopes of finally breaking through on a deep playoff run, it was time to push the chips in and get aggressive at the trade deadline. This is where things went wrong.<\/p>\n

Across multiple trades, the Maple Leafs relinquished their first-round picks in 2026 and 2027, along with skilled youngsters Fraser Minten<\/a> and Nikita Grebenkin<\/a>. The haul brought them Scott Laughton<\/a> from Philadelphia and Brandon Carlo<\/a> from Boston. A steep price to pay, the duo were the exact players the Leafs were missing in playoff shortcomings of past, but it had to pay off in May.<\/p>\n

Toronto managed to get by the underdog Senators in six games, and were rewarded with a rematch against the defending champions in Florida. Treliving\u2019s club went up 2-0 in the series, effectively the peak of the entire \u201cCore Four\u201d era. 11 days later though, they found themselves in another Game 7, coming up short yet again in a resounding defeat. The team was right there, so close, but it didn\u2019t matter. As we all know, Mitch Marner<\/a> moved on, and Treliving was left painted into a corner.<\/p>\n

2025-26 marks one decade since the Leafs last missed the playoffs, but the streak will end, for the first time in the Auston Matthews<\/a> era. There was optimism that Marner\u2019s departure would lead to the emergence of other forwards, but that wasn\u2019t the case. Toronto sits at 24th in the league today, and they\u2019ll be desperate for some lottery luck into the top five, or else their first rounder will go to Boston as salt in the wound.<\/p>\n

Fortunately earlier this month Treliving obtained a 2027 conditional first rounder from Colorado for Nicolas Roy<\/a>, as well as a 2027 second round selection from Seattle for Bobby McMann<\/a>. It\u2019s a parting gift after most of his moves made the team only older.<\/p>\n

All that being said, the Treliving era comes to an and after a 139 \u2013 92 \u2013 27 record and a single playoff series win over Ottawa.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s much debated where things went off the rails. Many point to the 2025 deadline deals, but in a way, the downfall may have started on July 1, 2023, when Marner\u2019s no-trade-clause kicked in. Treliving had just taken the job, and dealing Marner would have sent shockwaves across the organization. From his perspective it was probably never a serious possibility. However, with hindsight today, it\u2019s a situation many Leaf fans wish was handled differently.<\/p>\n

Maple Leafs management now must find a replacement, with the pressure of desperately salvaging the Matthews\/William Nylander<\/a>\/John Tavares<\/a> core before it is too late. Head coach Craig Berube<\/a>\u2018s seat is hot as well, and Toronto could consider a clean slate entirely. Former Vegas bench boss Bruce Cassidy<\/a>, who was shockingly let go yesterday<\/a>, presents a great opportunity for the Maple Leafs to obtain a top coach.<\/p>\n

Brandon Pridham<\/a>, current Assistant General Manager of the club, has gotten some noise as due for a promotion, and it might as well be in Toronto. The 52-year-old Ontario native\u2019s time with the Leafs dates back to 2014, starting as a Special Assistant and working his way up to his current role, which he\u2019s held since 2018.<\/p>\n

Rob Blake<\/a>, former Kings\u2019 General Manager, is an Ontario native who could garner some interest as a candidate with prior experience. The former superstar defenseman\u2019s Los Angeles tenure was doomed after continuous early playoff exits, however.<\/p>\n

Brendan Shanahan<\/a>, who served as President from 2014-25, would be a fascinating story if there was ever a possibility for him to return. It would be his first General Manager role, with a chance to clean up what he helped put together.<\/p>\n

In terms of recycled candidates, there isn\u2019t the strongest list. There\u2019s no immediate name which is far and away the best option, as Toronto could go in all sorts of different directions. As a storied franchise with a roster which is flawed, but still loaded on paper, they should have no shortage of hopefuls.<\/p>\n

A respected veteran in the game, Treliving, 56, should find another role in the league where he could reach 20 years of experience next season. Meanwhile, whoever comes next in Toronto has the opportunity to etch themselves into Maple Leafs history forever, although they\u2019ll be facing a formidable task in righting the ship.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"3\/31\/26:\u00a0In his press conference Tuesday, Pelley told the media that Maple Leafs assistant general managers Brandon Pridham and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":533603,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5106],"tags":[5,20,5172,30,4,66,31,5171],"class_list":{"0":"post-533602","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-toronto-maple-leafs","8":"tag-hockey","9":"tag-maple-leafs","10":"tag-mapleleafs","11":"tag-newsstand","12":"tag-nhl","13":"tag-toronto","14":"tag-toronto-maple-leafs","15":"tag-torontomapleleafs"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/116326131671233837","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/533602","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=533602"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/533602\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/533603"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=533602"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=533602"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=533602"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}