Leafs announce Brad Treliving as 18th GM in franchise history

The Toronto Maple Leafs have made it official: Brad Treliving is their guy.

After multiple reports surfaced Tuesday evening that the Leafs were set to hire Treliving to run the franchise, the team confirmed the news in a press release on Wednesday.

“I’m very pleased to welcome Brad into the Maple Leafs organization,” said Leafs president Brendan Shanahan. “Brad brings a wealth of knowledge from his years of experience as a General Manager and hockey executive in Calgary, Arizona and beyond. He has earned tremendous respect amongst his peers throughout his years in the NHL and has built excellent relationships at all levels within the game. We are confident that Brad’s leadership and strategic vision will elevate the Maple Leafs in our continued pursuit of a championship.”

Treliving spent nine years as the Calgary Flames’ general manager before being let go following the team’s failure to make the playoffs this season.

Treliving’s Flames made the playoffs five times in nine seasons but won just two seven-game playoff series, as well as a best-of-five qualifying round in the 2020 playoff bubble.

Leafs fans didn’t exactly seem thrilled at the news, with many wondering if Treliving’s the right fit to take the reins of the team moving forward as questions continue to linger about the team’s core group and if they’ll all stick with the team in the long term.

Treliving inherits a talent-filled roster, including 2022 Hart Trophy winner Auston Matthews, 2023 Selke nominee Mitch Marner, 40-goal scorer William Nylander and potential future Hall of Famer in Leafs captain John Tavares, but he’s also stepping into a high-pressure role with a mountain of expectations set on him from the get-go.

The news comes in the aftermath of a hotly debated departure of former Leafs general manager Kyle Dubas, who was let go on May 19 after five seasons in charge of the team.

Shanahan admitted earlier this month that Dubas’ candid nature during his end-of-season press conference influenced the franchise’s decision to let go of the longtime general manager.

“While watching Kyle’s press, I think at that point there was a dramatical shift in my thinking as I drove home that night, that, as Kyle expressed, he might not want to be our GM,” Shanahan said. “I have to take that very seriously.”

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