SIMMONS SAYS: Leafs GM Brad Treliving made studying Panthers an early priority

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When Brad Treliving was hired by the Maple Leafs, just 19 days after they were eliminated in the playoffs by the Florida Panthers, one of the first things he did as general manager was this: He re-watched the five games the Leafs played Florida.

He watched them closely. He studied his roster, what he had and what he didn’t have. His conclusion at the time: The series wasn’t as one-sided as so many assumed, even with the Leafs being eliminated in five games.

Now fast forward to two years later. A playoff rematch between the Stanley Cup-champion Panthers and the Maple Leafs begins Monday night. Treliving, in a hard-to-believe kind of way, helped build both these teams. He drafted Matthew Tkachuk and Sam Bennett in Calgary and somehow traded them individually to Florida.

He doesn’t want to be remembered for that.

In Toronto, Treliving has changed coaches, upgraded most of the defence both in skill and size, moved the captaincy from John Tavares to Auston Matthews, extended the team’s depth up front and brought a more methodical style of play to deal with teams such as the Panthers.

Florida won the Cup last year and played for it the year before. The Panthers have won eight playoff series in just more than two playoff seasons. The Leafs, by comparison, have won eight playoff series in the past 26 years.

When the Leafs were eliminated by the Panthers in 2023, they lost in five games, but the final three games all went to overtime. Not everyone remembers that. Sergei Bobrovsky was superb in goal for Florida, allowing just 10 goals on 174 shots for a .943 save percentage.

Finding a way to get to Bobrovsky, and controlling Treliving’s draft picks, Tkachuk and Bennett, in tight spaces, might end up the Leafs’ largest challenge in the series.

THIS AND THAT

One veteran NHL coach believes the Leafs will beat Florida in Round 2. He told me: “I think Toronto is better. This is the best Leafs team since I’ve been in the league. Florida’s forecheck is elite and Toronto will need a breakout plan. (Anthony) Stolarz needs to outplay Bob. Do those two things and special teams are a wash and in the series, I like their chances.” … He had me until the Stolarz outplays Bob thing. Outplay him? Unlikely. Hang with him, maybe. If he can do that, the Leafs will be all right … The Vezina Trophy finalists were announced and, within minutes it seemed, Darcy Kuemper and Andrei Vasilevskiy were knocked out of the playoffs and Connor Hellebuyck was pulled for the third time in three road games for the Winnipeg Jets … Hellebuyck is playing so badly for the Jets that you have to figure Team USA GM Bill Guerin has to be second-guessing his goaltending for the upcoming Olympic Games. I’d be looking at Jake Oettinger as his starter over Hellebuyck, who can’t seem to handle road games. And last time we checked, all of the Olympic games in Italy are played on the road for Team USA … If Jimmy Rutherford is guilty of anything in the craziness that is the Vancouver Canucks, it is of being too honest. He’s lost his coach, Rick Tocchet. He traded away one of his leaders in J.T. Miller. He’s left with the invisible man Elias Pettersson and now he’s hinting about trading Quinn Hughes, one of the 10 best players in hockey. What a mess Hall of Famer Rutherford finds himself in … No team lost itself and its identity more in the playoffs than the Los Angeles Kings, who have to be kicking themselves for the manner in which they were eliminated by the Edmonton Oilers. Two enormous mistakes: An illogical coach’s challenge by former Leafs assistant Jim Hiller and the failure to dump a puck over the blueline from a foot or so away, see Quinton Byfield, basically eliminated Los Angeles. After that, the Kings couldn’t find themselves … When the Leafs lost to Florida two years ago in the playoffs, an interesting question was posed to me: If you have one game to win, who would you want on your team, Bennett or Mitch Marner? My answer, then and now, was Bennett who, like Marner, is a pending free agent. Bennett is currently paid $5 million a year, or less than half of Marner’s $10.9 million. Bennett is expected to re-sign in Florida. Still not sure in what direction Marner is heading.

HEAR AND THERE

For the first time in 31 years, no Canadian player was nominated for the Hart Trophy as most valuable player in the NHL. The three finalists are Russia’s Nikita Kucherov, USA’s Hellebuyck, and Germany’s Leon Draisaitl. Nathan MacKinnon, who was high on my Hart ballot, did not make the final three. But the outstanding player award, voted by the players themselves, had MacKinnon in the final three for the Ted Lindsay Award along with teammate Cale Makar and Kucherov. Interesting that the players had a defenceman in their top three, but not a goaltender … The three non-Canadian nominees for the Hart in 1994 were Sergei Fedorov, Dominik Hasek and John Vanbiesbrouck … No defenceman has been nominated for the Hart in 25 years, which takes you back to the most recent defenceman to win MVP, Chris Pronger in 2000. Ray Bourque and Mark Howe were each nominated twice, Rod Langway and Denis Potvin once apiece. Bobby Orr won the Hart three straight years in Boston, which was sandwiched between him being nominated four other times. How game-changing was Orr? As a rookie, he finished sixth in the Hart voting … The Panthers third line has to be a concern for the Maple Leafs. The trio of Anton Lundell, Brad Marchand and Eetu Luostarinen produced 15 points against Tampa Bay in Round 1. The Leafs third line of Max Domi, the struggling Bobby McMann and name your left winger, contributed three or four points against Ottawa … How did Winnipeg’s Adam Lowry not get selected as a finalist for the Selke Trophy, as best defensive forward in the NHL? He was first on my ballot, a suggestion from numerous NHL coaches I quizzed. My top three for the Selke were Lowry, Pierre-Luc Dubois of Washington and Jack Eichel of Vegas, none of whom made the voters’ final list. The same coach who told me to vote for Lowry told me not to vote for perennial winner, Sasha Barkov. “He’s not having his usual great year,” said the coach.

SCENE AND HEARD

The pure emotion and thoughtful words surrounding news that Gregg Popovich had coached his last NBA game spoke volumes about the way in which he is perceived from within the game. Popovich coached 29 seasons in San Antonio, with one team, 2,291 games in all, 150 more than Scotty Bowman. He won five championships and Olympic gold along the way. By comparison, Bowman coached 30 seasons with five different teams, won Stanley Cups with Montreal, Pittsburgh and Detroit and made the final three times in St. Louis. Bowman and Popovich are on the Mount Rushmore of coaches from our lifetime and Bill Belichick would probably be alongside them, so long as he gets permission from his girlfriend to be included … There is no consensus as to who the Raptors should pick in the NBA draft without knowing what number they will be selecting from. There is some thought, though, that unless they move up, 6-foot-10 Derik Queen from Maryland will be available at their pick. The Raptors needs some size … What’s in a name? Cam Ward, not the former goalie, was picked first overall in the NFL draft. Ace Bailey, not the old-time NHL player, might go as high as No. 3 in the NBA draft … Saturday night in Colorado: Avalanche versus Dallas Stars in Game 7 of their first-round series. Denver Nuggets at home vs. Kawhi Leonard’s Los Angeles Clippers in Game 7 of the NBA playoffs … Many believe Giannis Antetokounmpo has played his last game with the Milwaukee Bucks … I like the choice of Gord Herbert as head coach of Canada’s national basketball team. He did a fine job coaching Germany in the 2024 Olympic Games. Herbert used to be an assistant with the Raptors … Why is it the fault of the Atlanta Falcons that the son of one of their assistant coaches got access to his phone list and prank-called Shedeur Sanders? That’s on the kid and, by extension, the father. It has nothing to do with the team, which got fined for the act … Yep, that was Fred VanVleet matching Steph Curry shot-for-shot Friday night, both ending up with 29 points in the game between Houston and Golden State. Game 7 in that series goes Sunday night.

AND ANOTHER THING

What’s real about the Blue Jays? Their bullpen. Jeff Hoffman has been crazy good in the first month. Until Saturday, Yimi Garcia has been near perfect. Brendon Little has been a huge surprise and, in spite of giving up way too many home runs, Chad Green has been solid. When the Jays get a lead after seven innings, they should win most games. The loss to Cleveland on Saturday was a bad one considering how great the Jays pen has been … What’s also real about the Jays? They have no regular power, except for Vladimir Guerrero Jr. They are 14th in the American League in home runs. Bo Bichette hit his first of the year on Saturday afternoon, and Anthony Santander has continued his reputation as a slow starter. Andres Gimenez is doing the Cleveland thing and batting just .177. That’s not as good as Alan Roden’s .181, but better than Addison Barger’s .152. Will Wagner, at .186, was shipped to triple-A Buffalo as was popular Davis Schneider, who was hitting .067 at the time of his demotion. Have to wonder if we’ll ever see Schneider again with the Jays. He’s hitting just .170 in Buffalo in the early season … Two years from now, the Montreal Canadiens will be better than the Ottawa Senators. The Habs need some size, but their front-end talent is exceptional. Ottawa needs to add a forward who can score … Tip of the cap to Joe Micheletti, the longtime New York Rangers colour man, who has decided to retire. He kept his planned retirement quiet, working alongside the also-retiring Sam Rosen. The season was a farewell tour for Rosen, but Micheletti quietly walked away at season’s end … The Rangers’ favourite Canadian TV show: Sullivan’s Landing … There’s some thought the Leafs would covet Patrick Kane as a replacement should Marner decide to leave in free agency. Kane may be old — he’s turning 37 in November — but he still scored 59 points with the Red Wings. Short-term, he might fit in on a line with Auston Matthews and Matthew Knies … Is anything more baseball than this? Coming off surgery, Daulton Varsho started four consecutive games for the Blue Jays and then got a scheduled day off on Friday night. By comparison, Lightning defenceman Victor Hedman played in the playoffs against Florida with an apparent broken leg … The highest scoring team in baseball, the Chicago Cubs, has hit 49 home runs this season and stolen 44 bases. By comparison, the Jays have hit 22 home runs and stolen 22 … Among the players Dale Tallon left behind when he was let go by the Florida Panthers: Bobrovsky, Barkov, Spencer Knight (traded for Seth Jones), Lundell, Luostarinen, Jonathan Huberdeau, MacKenzie Weegar (Huberdeau and Weegar were traded for Tkachuk), Vinny Trocheck, Aaron Ekblad and Owen Tippett (traded for Claude Giroux) … When Tallon was pushed out in Chicago, he left behind Jonathan Toews, Kane, Duncan Keith and coach Joel Quenneville, the core figures on a Chicago team that won three Stanley Cups … Tallon also drafted and traded away Zach Hyman when he was in Florida … The lie all pending free agents tell for media purposes: “I haven’t given it any thought.” That’s a real lie when it comes to married players. They talk all season about where they want to live and play next year. It’s dinner conversation … Another reason why the Oilers had to keep defenceman Philip Broberg. The kid was plus-7 in the Stanley Cup final for Edmonton, the highest number in the series. Broberg is now a difference-maker in St. Louis … Happy birthday to The Rock Dwayne Johnson (53), Rod Langway (68), Ron Hextall (61), James van Riemsdyk (36), Tyronn Lue (48), Ryan Dempster (48), Nico Sturm (30), Matthew Barnaby (52), Andrew Raycroft (45), Dawn Staley (55) and Wonderful Monds III (73) … And hey, whatever became of Carlos Tosca?

ssimmons@postmedia.com

X – @simmonssteve