Maple Leafs 'ready to write a new chapter' GM Brad Treliving says
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Brad Treliving wasn’t about to throw any fuel onto the playoff fire.
The Maple Leafs general manager held court on Good Friday, the only member of the organization who talked to media after the club had an optional skate at the Ford Performance Centre.
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Maple Leafs 'ready to write a new chapter' GM Brad Treliving says Back to video
The Leafs will get down to serious business on Saturday with a full practice to put final preparations in place for Game 1 of the Battle Ontario, on Sunday night at Scotiabank Arena.
Expectations for the Leafs are high — when aren’t they, though — on the cusp of the 2025 Stanley Cup playoffs, but Treliving had no interest in looking beyond the best-of-seven opener against the Ottawa Senators.
“We’re going to worry about Sunday,” Treliving said. “We really like where our team is at right now, but we’re at the same starting line.
“We have a difficult opponent, and every team is good going into playoffs. We got a big challenge ahead of us, and our focus is getting off to a (good) start on Sunday. You can have highs and lows in a series, it’s about being steady at the wheel, managing the momentum both ways.”
There’s little nitpicking with how the Leafs, who recalled winger Ryan Reaves from the Toronto Marlies, geared up in the final stage of the regular season. In winning 13 of their last 16 games, losing just once in regulation in their final 12 and concluding with a five-game winning streak, the Leafs checked off all the confidence boxes in the past several weeks.
Taking that into account, how are the Leafs better prepared under Craig Berube for the playoffs than they were a year ago, when Sheldon Keefe’s last stand behind the Toronto bench was a loss in Game 7 in the first round versus the Boston Bruins?
“It’s the process of getting to the results,” Treliving said. “I like where our team is at right now. I know there is always lots of talk on the outside of what’s different, what’s the same and the past. The past is the past.
“We said at the beginning of the season everybody starts from zero. It’s the same thing now. Everything that has happened in the 82 games is to prepare you for what’s coming next. But none of it is relevant. And none of it gives you any kind of leg up starting Sunday. We’re ready to write a new chapter.”
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What is relevant, though, are those parts of the past where the Leafs failed to advance beyond the first round. What happened two years ago is the outlier, as the Leafs eliminated the Tampa Bay Lightning in six games before the Florida Panthers needed just five games to send the Leafs off to summer break.
As the Leafs have tried to get it right, the general manager and coach have changed. The core has not. Few expect that Mitch Marner will be back if the Leafs somehow get ousted by the Senators, and if that occurs, any argument for re-signing fellow free agent John Tavares would considerably weaken.
All of the things Treliving has done to improve the Leafs, whether it was signing goalie Anthony Stolarz, defencemen Chris Tanev and Oliver Ekman-Larsson before adding defenceman Brandon Carlo and forward Scott Laughton at the trade deadline in March, have worked in the club’s favour for the most part.
When the puck drops on Sunday, though, the Leafs will go as far as captain Auston Matthews, Marner and William Nylander take them.
Matthews, who missed 15 games with an upper-body injury, scored a career low 33 goals in 67 games. Nylander scored a career-high 45 goals. Marner couldn’t have been any better in the regular season, setting career highs with 75 assists and 102 points.
“We talk about a down year (for Matthews) because didn’t score 69 goals,” Treliving said. “We’ve talked about some tweaks in how we play. I think Auston has been front and centre of leading that way.
“What he does away from the puck sets the standard for everybody else. His overall game is as good as I’ve ever seen it. He sets the standard for us.
“Mitch has had a fabulous year. There was a stretch where we had a lot of guys out (in November/December) and Mitch really held the fort for us. He kept things on the rails. That’s sort of a microcosm of this year. He has been a leader, he has been a top player. And I think he’s in a real good spot.”
Like Treliving implied, though, what’s relevant is what comes next. The trio of well-paid twenty-somethings all have to lead and produce against Ottawa. If that happens, winning the first round should not be in question.
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The lone focus today, though, is Game 1 on Sunday. As it happens, it will mark 21 years to the day, April 20, that the Leafs and Senators played their previous playoff game against each other. That night in Toronto, a pair of soft Joe Nieuwendyk goals on goalie Patrick Lalime in the first period sent the Leafs to a 4-1 in in Game 7.
The Battle of Ontario, with actual intrigue, intensity and suspense, is here again.
“The biggest challenge is you’re playing a really good team,” Treliving said. “Lots of skill up front, lots of depth up front, really good blue line, mobile, Vezina goalie (Linus Ullmark in 2023 with Boston) in net. (Coach) Travis (Green) has instilled a defensive conscience.
“When you have a rivalry that has a history like this does, it’s great for the province, it’s great for the game.”
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