The Maple Leafs on Monday “relieved” GM Brad Treliving of his duties “late in a disappointing season.” No replacement “was named, and no other firings or hirings were announced.” Treliving had one year left on his contract beyond this one. Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment President Keith Pelley is scheduled to address the media at 2pm ET Tuesday at Scotiabank Arena (TORONTO STAR, 3/30).
The move came with the Leafs “on the verge of playoff elimination,” entering Monday’s game with a 31-30-13 record and 13 points out of the second wild-card spot. Treliving oversaw a 139-92-27 record with the Leafs, including a 10-10 playoff mark and a first-round series win over the Senators. But the club “struggled to find consistency this season” and “pivoted to selling at the trade deadline earlier this month as it fell out of contention” (CP, 3/30).
The name of Blues GM Doug Armstrong “continues to be heavy in speculation” as a potential replacement for Treliving. Armstrong is “slated to relinquish” his role to Alexander Steen on July 1, “at which point Armstrong will continue as the Blues’ president of hockey operations” (TORONTO SUN, 3/30).
It is “almost impossible to point to any aspect of the current Maple Leafs where things are not worse now than when Treliving succeeded Kyle Dubas almost three years ago." In fact, “you could argue that relative to expectation, this might be the worst season in Maple Leafs history” (THE HOCKEY NEWS, 3/30).
