Brad Treliving has has a very up-and-down season in his first year as Toronto Maple Leafs GM.
Many of his moves have not worked out, most notably John Klingberg and Ryan Reaves. While some of his other moves have been great value, including Simon Benoit and Martin Jones.
One thing he has done well has been giving out 1-year contracts, minimizing a lot risk when it comes to his contracts.
While his trade for Ilya Lyubushkin was a fine start, he’ll need to do a lot more if he wants to give his Toronto Maple Leafs team a better shot at the Stanley Cup.
If we look at this point last year, Kyle Dubas had already acquired Ryan O’Reilly, Noel Acciari, Luke Schenn, Jake McCabe, Sam Lafferty, Erik Gustaffson, and others. And while there is still some time left before the deadline, Treliving needs to make another trade (or two) if the Leafs want a real shot at a deep playoff run.
With the exception of the 2022 season, Treliving has never really been a big buyer at the deadline. To be fair though, in his tenure as the GM of the Calgary Flames, the team never really was considered a “contender”.
