The Toronto Maple Leafs have fired general manager Brad Treliving with just seven games remaining in a season that has seen the club slide out of playoff contention. The move was announced Monday evening, cutting Treliving’s tenure short near the end of his third year at the helm.
The decision comes amid a turbulent period for the organization, which has undergone significant leadership changes over the past few years. Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment (MLSE) president and CEO Keith Pelley addressed the dismissal in a statement.
A tenure of high hopes and disappointing results
Treliving was hired in May 2023, taking over from his predecessor Kyle Dubas. He inherited a talented team that had consistently made the playoffs but struggled to advance. At the time of his hiring, the Leafs were coming off back-to-back 110-point seasons and had finally broken their first-round curse in the 2022-23 playoffs. However, Treliving was not the choice of Keith Pelley, who took over as MLSE's new president and CEO in January 2024, eight months after the GM was hired.
Brad Treliving is a man that we all have deep respect and appreciation for, both as a hockey executive and as a person, but it was determined that the club must chart a new course under different leadership. The organization is grateful for all that Brad has contributed in his nearly three years with the Maple Leafs, and we wish him and his family the very best.
In Treliving's first season, 2023-24, the Leafs took a slight step back, finishing with 102 points before another first-round playoff exit. This led to the firing of head coach Sheldon Keefe, who was replaced by Craig Berube. Treliving then set out to build a roster suited to Berube's defence-first system, acquiring more 'gritty' players.
The changes initially seemed to work. In 2024-25, the Leafs bounced back to 108 points and won their division for the first time in a non-COVID-shortened season since 2000. They defeated the Ottawa Senators in the first round of the playoffs but fell to the Florida Panthers in a hard-fought seven-game series, losing the deciding game 6-1. That defeat marked the end of Brendan Shanahan's 11-year tenure as team president, a move that brought Treliving into a direct reporting line with Pelley.
The downward spiral of the current season
With expectations still high, the current 2025-26 season has been a significant disappointment. The team has failed to find consistent form, and its playoff hopes have steadily dwindled. At the end of November, the Leafs had a .500 record and sat four points out of a wild-card position. By the end of January, despite a marginal improvement to a .536 points percentage, the gap had widened to eight points.
Even after a recent overtime win against the Anaheim Ducks on Monday, the team holds a .513 record and is now 11 points out of a playoff spot with time running out. The persistent struggles this season intensified the pressure on Treliving, culminating in his dismissal before the season’s official conclusion.
Costly trades come back to haunt
A series of high-stakes trades that have failed to pay off are a significant part of Treliving’s legacy in Toronto. His decision to acquire defenceman Brandon Carlo from the division-rival Boston Bruins at the March 2025 trade deadline has proven particularly damaging. The price was steep: promising prospect Fraser Minten, a 2025 fourth-round pick, and a conditional 2026 first-round draft pick.
The condition on that first-round pick is now a source of major anxiety for the franchise. According to details of the trade, Boston will receive Toronto's pick this year as long as it falls outside the top five. When the trade was made, Treliving was banking on the Leafs being a Stanley Cup contender, which would have made the pick a late first-rounder. Now, with the Leafs near the bottom of the league standings, they face the grim prospect of handing a high draft pick to the Bruins, a team also dealing with its own financial pressures, including a reported $48.4 million budget gap in its host city.
Unless the Leafs get a lucky bounce in the draft lottery or several teams fall below them in the standings over the final seven games, they will lose a valuable asset in a year with a strong draft class. Other moves have also aged poorly, such as giving up a 2027 first-round pick for depth centre Scott Laughton, who only scored 16 points for the Leafs before being traded to the Los Angeles Kings for just a third-round pick in return.
What’s next for the Maple Leafs?
The search for a new general manager will begin immediately, according to reports. The new hire will face the urgent task of reshaping the roster to return the team to contention. The most pressing issue on their desk will be the future of superstar captain Auston Matthews.
Matthews, who will turn 29 in September, has two years remaining on his $13.25 million-per-year contract, which he signed under Treliving. However, after a decade in Toronto and with his last two seasons being less productive than his peak years, speculation about his long-term commitment will undoubtedly grow. The Arizona native recently captained Team USA to an Olympic gold medal, fuelling conjecture that he may prefer to play for an American team in the future.
The organization cannot afford to let the situation fester. As the Vancouver Canucks demonstrated with Quinn Hughes, if a star player indicates he is unwilling to sign an extension, the most prudent course of action may be to pursue a trade sooner rather than later. The new GM will need to determine Matthews’ intentions and chart a course forward that avoids a prolonged period of uncertainty for the franchise and its fanbase, many of whom are already struggling to find a family doctor in Toronto amid the city's other challenges.
The new general manager must make a franchise-altering decision that will define the next era of Maple Leafs hockey, all while navigating a competitive market for executive talent this offseason.
