Decision made: Leafs expected to hire ex-Flames GM Brad Treliving

It appears the Toronto Maple Leafs have found their man.

On the day that former GM Kyle Dubas reportedly landed a job with the Pittsburgh Penguins, the Maple Leafs have seemingly found his replacement. The Leafs are now expected to hire Brad Treliving as their next general manager.

TSN’s Darren Dreger is reporting that he expects the Leafs’ search for a new GM to wrap up in the “very near future,” with Treliving being named the team’s new general manager.

We updated the Toronto Maple Leafs GM search earlier tonight Insider Trading. More specifically, all signs now point to the search wrapping up in the very near future with Brad Treliving being named as the new GM.

— Darren Dreger (@DarrenDreger) May 31, 2023

Treliving parted ways with the Calgary Flames last month, after serving as GM of the team since 2014. Craig Conroy has since been named as Treliving’s replacement in Calgary.

The Flames posted the 17th-best points percentage (.569) in the NHL during Treliving’s tenure as GM, going 362-265-73. By comparison, the Leafs have the 11th-best points percentage (.586) since the start of the 2014-15 season, with a 369-248-83 record.

Treliving takes over the team at a pivotal time, as the Leafs have 10 NHL players set to become unrestricted free agents on July 1, including Ryan O’Reilly, Michael Bunting, and Alex Kerfoot. But it’s the pending UFAs in 2024 and 2025 that are of even more importance, as Auston Matthews and William Nylander become free agents after next season, while Mitch Marner and John Tavares can sign elsewhere the year after that.

Treliving steered the Flames through a turbulent offseason one year ago, when he watched Johnny Gaudreau leave the team in free agency and was forced to trade Matthew Tkachuk. He was praised for the haul he got for Tkachuk, which included Jonathan Huberdeau and MacKenzie Weegar, as well as free agent signing Nazem Kadri.

Those moves didn’t result in success on the ice this season for Calgary, as they missed the playoffs in the Western Conference. They did have more points (93) than the Florida Panthers (92) though, which is the same team that defeated the Leafs en route to the Stanley Cup Final.

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