Brad Treliving and Maple Leafs have major problem to fix before the season beings
The Toronto Maple Leafs are looking very thin at the left wing position heading into next season, putting general manager Brad Treliving in a tough spot.
Tyler Bertuzzi lead all Leafs left wingers in ice time per game last season, averaging more than 16 minutes per night. However, he signed just a one-year deal with the team and Treliving was not able to bring him back, creating a void at the top of the lineup. Behind him were an assortment of rookies and generally inexperienced players, with Matthew Knies logging the second-most ice time among dedicated left wingers last season.
One fan responded to this situation by saying that Top Leafs prospect Easton Cowan can replace Tyler Bertuzzi on the left side in a top-six role while free-agent signing Connor Dewar should replace Gregor.
That sounds simple enough, but expecting Cowan to replace Bertuzzi's level of production right away in his rookie season would be asking a lot from him, especially since he wasn't expected to make the NHL this quickly until last pre-season where he really shocked everyone, even the Leafs with how ready he looked.
Furthermore, this fan also points out that replacing Nick Robertson might be difficult as well. Unfortunately for Treliving, it is appearing more and more likely that Robertson will not be coming back as well, as he remains adamant about his trade request.
NHL insider Pierre LeBrun just gave us an update on this situation, revealing that a trade is still not imminent and the young forward is growing increasingly frustrated as he focuses on staying in shape this offseason.
Assuming Robertson does eventually get moved, the Leafs would likely be looking at some combination of Matthew Knies, Easton Cowan, Bobby McMann, and Connor Dewar as their top-four left wingers. While the Leafs certainly have lots of star power elsewhere among their forward group, that is not a list of names that should inspire a ton of confidence in Leafs fans.
Combined, those four players have just 239 games of NHL experience and 103 points. 190 of those games and 43 points come from Dewar alone, who figures to play a fourth-line role. Can the Leafs make their forward group work with so little experience on the left side? Stick around to find out.
Source: MapleLeafsDaily
Maple Leafs facing a concerning issue ahead of the 2024-25 season
| POLL | ||
Do you think Brad Treliving will make a move to acquire a left winger before the start of the 2024-25 NHL season? | ||
| Yes | 248 | 59.5 % |
| No | 169 | 40.5 % |
| List of polls | ||
