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Calgary4LIfe · 03-11-2026, 08:46 AM

Tough place for the Leafs to be in with this year's pick and next year's pick spoken for. Their best bet is to tank hard for this season only. Their pick this year is top 5 protected. I think Treliving screwed up in pricing his players too high - he needed to make some more room both on the roster, and grab more futures that he can either use at the draft, or use as trade-chips for now. Then the Leafs could have also had a harder time winning games (though in fairness, they may be sucking enough now).

If the Leafs finish bottom 5, they keep their pick, and the 2027 and 2028 picks are spoken for. Maybe adding a top 5 pick into the lineup, and then adding another couple of pieces that can actually contribute - one on the back-end at least - will make the difference. I think it still going to be tight, but with Mathews, Nylander and Knies as established players, it could work. Leafs seem to be drafting decently considering their lack of picks.

Peak pain for the Leafs may still come. Handing over a 7th overall pick to the Bruins would hurt. So do they make a run at 5th or lower? Hard, but it can be done. Toronto has a 5 point lead on the Blues, and the Blues have a game in hand, so it is possible - and the Leafs actually have a much harder strength of schedule left than the Blues or Jets. Peak pain would be getting into that 5th position, but having the 15th or 14th place team win the lottery and jump in front of them. Damn.. imagine giving up a 6th overall pick (+ Fraser Minten + a 5th) for Brandon Carlo.

Yeah, I think Treliving doesn't survive this. Conroy redeemed Treliving's last terrible move here with the Monahan trade with the recent Kadri trade (though the pick is going to be substantially lower, it is in an arguably better draft, and there were more assets as well). The Carlo trade in Washington is WAY worse than the Hamonic trade in Calgary. To only top 5 protect it, and he is giving up that much on top of the 1st round pick? That's essentially similar value to the Weegar trade, and Weegar is a much better asset, but to only top 5 protect it? That's the kind of mistake that will cost you your job IMO, when your job already seemed to be in a precarious state given the situation the team is in.

I think the Leafs will be finding a new GM this off-season. I also think that Treliving won't be hired as a GM in his next gig. I think he will end up as an assistant or associate somewhere, and then either got the Feaster route and take over from an embattled GM somewhere, or go the Maloney route and get promoted into a presidency somewhere. The latter makes more sense to me as I think Treliving is a very poor evaluator of talent and terrible with asset management, but he is very good with the media and stomping out public relations fires. I wonder what teams will need an assistant next season.

03-11-2026, 08:46 AM	#1402
Calgary4LIfe Franchise Player Join Date: Jun 2010 Exp:	Tough place for the Leafs to be in with this year's pick and next year's pick spoken for. Their best bet is to tank hard for this season only. Their pick this year is top 5 protected. I think Treliving screwed up in pricing his players too high - he needed to make some more room both on the roster, and grab more futures that he can either use at the draft, or use as trade-chips for now. Then the Leafs could have also had a harder time winning games (though in fairness, they may be sucking enough now). If the Leafs finish bottom 5, they keep their pick, and the 2027 and 2028 picks are spoken for. Maybe adding a top 5 pick into the lineup, and then adding another couple of pieces that can actually contribute - one on the back-end at least - will make the difference. I think it still going to be tight, but with Mathews, Nylander and Knies as established players, it could work. Leafs seem to be drafting decently considering their lack of picks. Peak pain for the Leafs may still come. Handing over a 7th overall pick to the Bruins would hurt. So do they make a run at 5th or lower? Hard, but it can be done. Toronto has a 5 point lead on the Blues, and the Blues have a game in hand, so it is possible - and the Leafs actually have a much harder strength of schedule left than the Blues or Jets. Peak pain would be getting into that 5th position, but having the 15th or 14th place team win the lottery and jump in front of them. Damn.. imagine giving up a 6th overall pick (+ Fraser Minten + a 5th) for Brandon Carlo. Yeah, I think Treliving doesn't survive this. Conroy redeemed Treliving's last terrible move here with the Monahan trade with the recent Kadri trade (though the pick is going to be substantially lower, it is in an arguably better draft, and there were more assets as well). The Carlo trade in Washington is WAY worse than the Hamonic trade in Calgary. To only top 5 protect it, and he is giving up that much on top of the 1st round pick? That's essentially similar value to the Weegar trade, and Weegar is a much better asset, but to only top 5 protect it? That's the kind of mistake that will cost you your job IMO, when your job already seemed to be in a precarious state given the situation the team is in. I think the Leafs will be finding a new GM this off-season. I also think that Treliving won't be hired as a GM in his next gig. I think he will end up as an assistant or associate somewhere, and then either got the Feaster route and take over from an embattled GM somewhere, or go the Maloney route and get promoted into a presidency somewhere. The latter makes more sense to me as I think Treliving is a very poor evaluator of talent and terrible with asset management, but he is very good with the media and stomping out public relations fires. I wonder what teams will need an assistant next season.