While the Toronto Maple Leafs moved on from Brendan Shanahan on Thursday, the team intends to keep general manager Brad Treliving, writes Chris Johnston of The Athletic. Treliving will report directly to MLSE president and CEO Keith Pelley, per Johnston.
Treliving will immediately face tough decisions, as top forwards Mitch Marner and John Tavares are set for free agency. Even with the rising salary cap, it seems unlikely Toronto can retain both players and still add other key targets needed to push the team to playoff success.
As Johnston notes, Toronto will more than likely look to lessen the NHL’s largest front office, which included 15 executive positions under Shanahan. Streamlining operations could provide greater clarity for Pelley and Treliving, allowing them to work more efficiently and make clearer decisions. A simplified structure might ultimately prove more effective.
Elsewhere in the Eastern Conference:
- Speaking of Marner, Kevin Kurz of The Athletic wrote that the Philadelphia Flyers should be in the market for forwards this offseason but added that he doesn’t see the potential Toronto free agent or any other big-name player as viable options. While GM Daniel Briere recently expressed that the organization is in a position to add key players as opposed to trade them away, making a move for a player that could receive upwards of $12 million per season may not fit into the Flyers plans. With a roster full of young, promising forwards, adding someone like Marner might accelerate the organization’s timeline prematurely.
- While the Sabres are gauging the trade market for pending restricted free agent defenseman Bowen Byram, his new representation has called reports of a trade request a “total fabrication,” per Joe Yerdon of Bleacher Report. With Byram set for restricted free agency this summer, he opted to change agents and is now represented by agent Darren Ferris with Quartexx Hockey. Byram set career highs with 38 points in 82 games this past season, while also averaging a career high 22:42 of ice time per game. It will be interesting to see whether the Sabres can generate trade interest for Byram, or if they’ll find a way to keep the 23-year-old long-term.
The Briere timeline is an imaginary object with no endpoint. He is clueless and has made the team consistently worse and has no actual plan.
Trade Power, keep Byram.
Prefer to keep both. Power is still growing into his body. He is following the same development as Dahlin has.
If Byram can show that he can be successful with a partner other than Dahlin, then they should absolutely lock him up long-term. He won’t be cheap, but the Sabres have ample cap space.
Way too many Toronto articles. There are 31 other teams out there.
I dislike big market sports franchises dominating news cycles as much as anyone but an Original Six team is at a crossroads and making big changes. Do you expect a site called Pro Hockey Rumors to not report on it?
It’s not their fault that Nashville Predators news doesn’t pay the bills.
Toronto is probably the single biggest franchise in the league in terms of fan base and news coverage, so it makes sense that there would be more reporting on Toronto than any other team. Remember, PHR is not a primary source; they are not going out and interviewing players and agents. They aggregate other coverage and reporting.
The fact that Toronto is an Original Six club is Irrelevant, And calling Toronto a team that’s at a crossroads is very kind, The Leafs simply are not that good, And anyone can connect the dots is to how they got there.
Treliving dosen’t really have any tough decisions to make when it comes to Marner, Or Taveras, Marner has no Interest in staying in Toronto, And Taveras is 34 years old, Let him go, And invest the money elsewhere, Toronto has a ton of holes to fill before they are true contenders.