Brad Treliving is gone and his winless trade record explains the total collapse in Toronto
Photo credit: Dan Hamilton-Imagn Images
Brad Treliving didn't make many trades as part of the Maple Leafs organization but in the 23 that he did make — these are the six worst ones.
From the fumbling of Mitch Marner to the absolute catastrophe that was the Minten-Carlo swap, Treliving has failed the Maple Leafs at every turn. There's nearly two dozen deals that blew up in his face, though a couple certainly stand out above the rest.
We are going to split these two deals into two categories: Trades that ruined the future, and trades that prove there was no plan. We are only going to go through major ones with some honourable mentions thrown in.
The Treliving deals that completely destroyed the Maple Leafs' future
So, we are going to rip the band-aid off right away with arguably the worst deal Treliving made as GM:
Boston acquires: Fraser Minten, 2026 Top-Five protected first-round pick
Toronto acquires: Brandon Carlo
That's so, so bad. Minten is a first-line centre in Boston meanwhile Carlo is stagnating in Toronto. Not to mention that the Maple Leafs gave up their 2026 first-round pick which is likely headed to Boston as well — you can see the utter failure.
Carlo's trade was a rush job, Treliving failed to protect the future in either Minten or the draft pick, and now Carlo may be traded; it's a rough draw.
Minten is someone who Toronto needs now more than they do Carlo, and right now they get to watch him thrive with one of their most heated rivals. There's not much more to say...this trade absolutely was the tipping point.
Philadelphia acquires: Nikita Grebenkin, 2027 first-round pick
Toronto acquires: Scott Laughton, 2025 fourth-round pick, 2027 sixth-round pick
Okay this one hurts but, not as bad as the prior one. Toronto traded Laughton only months after acquiring him and only got a conditional third. Grebenkin was a solid prospect but he may not reach above the bottom-six so it isn't a complete loss.
But it's the fact they got rid of a first round pick for 63 games of Laughton — not exactly the length you'd expect when you pay that premium. Thank goodness they got it back in the Nic Roy deadline deal...speaking of.
Vegas acquires: Mitch Marner, Colorado acquires Nic Roy
Toronto acquires: Nic Roy, 2027 first-round pick
This is a two parter because they are so intrinsically linked. First, Toronto rushed a Marner deal because he was headed out of town and got Roy to lead the 3C spot. Fine, that's actually not bad.
But to then flip him at the deadline especially since he's not that old, still a very solid middle-six player, fairly cheap, and brought the locker room together is bad.
Toronto gave up their bastion of offence because they weren't proactive, shot themselves in the foot all year, then tried to salvage things by getting rid of their best pieces.
Remember, this is a team who very well could have had Mikko Rantanen last year. Oh what a year can do.
The Treliving deals that had absolutely no direction
There's a few more deals that Treliving made that aren't necessarily ruining the future but it does bring a lot more questions about what he was trying to build.
Washington acquires: 2024 third-round pick, 2025 fifth-round pick
Toronto acquires: Joel Edmundson
While this isn't one that destroyed their pipeline but Edmundson was a head-scratcher. He wasn't healthy, had only one good season from 2019-2023 and ended up playing only nine games for Toronto.
He was wracked with injuries coming over and there was no direction in place. Treliving saw 6-foot-5, 220 pounds and felt that was enough to pull the trigger.
He signed as a free agent with LA and has been solid ever since. Truly a mind-boggler especially if they weren't keeping him around.
San Jose acquires: Ryan Reaves
Toronto acquires: Henry Thrun
Now this isn't a knock on Thrun, as he is a young defenceman who could end up being a solid depth or bottom-pairing piece in the NHL. This is more of a knock on Treliving's signage and expectations of Reaves.
This trade should never have happened because the signing never should have. There was no reason Treliving should have handed Reaves a three-year deal let alone at $4.05-million. He was subpar at best, never fought, didn't add anything on the ice, and was a liability for the majority of his time here.
84 games. 8 points. Minus-15. These are the numbers Reaves gave you. That's not gonna win you much of anything and any hope of him pulling off his 20-point season from 2019-20 was laughable.
Treliving's insistence on adding a mid-30's guy as an enforcer when that role died ten years earlier is not only poor money management, but a truly bizarre decision from the get-go.
At least they got Thrun out of it.
Pittsburgh acquires: Connor Dewar, Conor Timmins
Toronto acquires: 2025 fifth-round pick (William Belle, 137th overall)
This doesn't come as a knock on the drafting of Belle, as he is a hulking power forward at Notre Dame who could be someone part of the future down the line (he's only 19).
But it's the fact that Treliving had Kyle Dubas more than happy to help him out and open up the cap space to make a splash at last year's deadline. Trading Dewar and Timmins opened up two roster spots and $2.2-million in cap space.
Instead of going all in using whatever money they had, it went towards Laughton and Carlo and as we touched on above — those didn't turn out so hot.
Timmins is now thriving in Buffalo meanwhile Dewar is part of a resurgent Penguins team that has genuine Stanley Cup hopes.
The Penguins handed the Maple Leafs a gift on a silver platter and decided to play with the cardboard box it came in.
The verdict is clear: Brad Treliving had no direction and Toronto is paying the price
While there are certainly a few more deals that could be delved into such as the Same Lafferty mess-up and you can include the 2024 Draft that saw Toronto pass on Michael Hage because they weren't proactive enough (a plague they've dealt with forever).
But these are the six most egregious ones that I could think of. What about you? Which one do you think is the worst move Treliving made?
There's certainly a lot of them.
Also read on Hockey Patrol :
Chris Pronger puts the Maple Leafs on notice with his strict conditions for the MLSE to join the front office
Chris Pronger puts the Maple Leafs on notice with his strict conditions for the MLSE to join the front office
Previously on Hockey Patrol
| POLL | ||
AVRIL 1|1301 ANSWERS Brad Treliving is gone and his winless trade record explains the total collapse in Toronto What is the worst trade Brad Treliving made? | ||
| Marner for Roy | 405 | 31.1 % |
| Minten for Carlo | 702 | 54 % |
| Laughton for 1st | 154 | 11.8 % |
| Edmundson for Nothing | 40 | 3.1 % |
| List of polls | ||