Toronto Maple Leafs general manager Brad Treliving set the record straight on why he is always in on everything regardless of whether it is a signing or a trade.
During a one-on-one interview with TSN’s Darren Dreger on Friday, Treliving was asked whether it is fair that he is labelled as someone leaving no stone unturned which has followed him dating back to his time with the Flames. He was not afraid to admit that it is true while adding he feels it is part of what he needs to do so he can be successful as a general manager.
“I know I got criticized like, ‘Oh, always the bridesmaids and stuff,’” Treliving said. “Listen, you’re not involved in every deal, right? But I think the job is, as all managers are, to know what’s going on in the league. And our job is to try to help our team whenever we can. Sometimes, deals aren’t feasible for whatever reason or the cap doesn’t fit, but I think our job is to know what’s going on. You try to stay as engaged as you possibly can to see what’s happening. If a deal happens in the league and you’re not aware of it, shame on you.”
Treliving doesn’t mind being labelled as someone who likes to be in on everything because he feels that it is the only way he can keep track of whether this is something out there to help his team be more successful. Not every deal out there is going to materialize for one reason or another, but to him, it is better to be engaged and not get any player out of it than to avoid the happenings and regret missing out later.
Since joining the organization in the summer of 2023, there have been numerous occasions where there are reports that the Leafs are supposedly interested in trading for Player X or signing Player Y. While it is unclear exactly how close Treliving was to acquiring the players that the Maple Leafs ultimately didn’t get (ex: Nikita Zadorov, Matt Roy, Jacob Markstrom), what matters to the general manager is at the very least dipping his toes in the water to see if it’s worth swimming.
Treliving feels that the rest of the league is trying to do similar things to him because it is what comes with the gig of being a general manager.
“It’s a good group of managers. There’s lots of communication,” he said. “Everybody’s competitive and trying to help their team. But to me, that’s the job. The job is to make sure you’re engaged, you’re in the conversations, and you know what’s happening. All these deals, a lot of them take weeks, if not months to have dialogue. The job is to make sure you’re aware of what’s happening and if there’s something that makes sense that can help your team, you certainly want to be involved in it.”
Regardless of how Leafs fans may feel about his reputation, you can appreciate Treliving’s candidness in discussing why he operates the way he does and why he feels it is necessary to be effective in his role. It will certainly help explain why the Leafs are always reported to be one of the teams involved when a player is up for grabs either via trade or signing.
You can watch the full interview down below:
