Fox: Maple Leafs' disappointing deadline brings Treliving under fire

TORONTO — Brad Treliving’s 2026 trade deadline mirrored the season for his Toronto Maple Leafs.

It began with lofty expectations and a dash of hope, only to fizzle into an underwhelming shrug. 

A puddle of uncertainty and disappointment. 

Unanswered questions and blank stares.

Too vanilla.

Playing their most disconnected and uninspired hockey since they were strategically tanking a decade ago, the hockey team forced its general manager into a position he never saw coming: emergency seller.

While Treliving’s first deal since July — shipping two runs of cap-friendly Nicolas Roy to contending Colorado for first- and fifth-round picks — was a tidy bit of business and whet fans’ appetite for a major restocking of the cupboard, Friday’s follow-up lacked creativity and quantity and encouragement.

“The market speaks,” Treliving said, after the 3 p.m. ET deadline passed. “We were trying to be as active as we could, to obtain and acquire as many young assets as we could.”

Two impending UFAs, Bobby McMann and Scott Laughton, were rented west for modest return, off to Seattle and Los Angeles, respectively.

Speedster McMann, 29, had expressed a desire to remain a Leaf. But when comparable Kiefer Sherwood inked his five-year, $28.75-million contract in San Jose, it became clear that the late-blooming winger had priced himself out of Toronto.

Sitting both forwards out the past two games to keep them healthy, Treliving tried to land a first-rounder or two seconds for McMann, the return Vancouver fetched from the Sharks for Sherwood.

The executive settled for a second-round pick in 2027 and a fourth in 2026 for his 19-goal scorer. 

“The best offer that we had,” Treliving said.

The offensively challenged Kraken are in a dogfight for a wild-card berth and desperate for a jolt. Letting McMann walk for nothing was not an option.

The Laughton trade tree, meanwhile, won’t shadow the executive kindly.

Like McMann, the beloved and versatile glue guy had professed his love for Leafs Nation repeatedly.

“I have family close. And the staff, you get treated first class here. Original Six team. It’s special every time you go on the ice,” Laughton told us in the days leading up to deadline.

“You get chills every time going out, thinking about this team you grew up watching. And I’ve said this before, but I’ve fallen in love with the guys here. We have a great group of guys who really care and want to be at their best.”

But the centre-slash-winger’s usage under coach Craig Berube had been curiously limited.

Laughton was acquired by Treliving at this time last season, from Philadelphia, for a first-round pick plus prospect Nikita Grebenkin. Steep.

He leaves for California in exchange for a third-round pick that could get upgraded to a second should the mushy-middle Kings quality for the playoffs. (L.A. sits three points shy of a wild card with two teams to leap and 21 games to go.)

Treliving salvaged something here, but this, at best, is a big-picture loss. At worse, a fireable offence.

“We communicated with everybody. And ultimately, the market dictates, right?” Treliving explained. “And that’s where it fell.”

The events in Leafland over the past 12 months have highlighted Treliving’s missteps, hindsight being 20/20 and all. Flyers on Roy, Dakota Joshua, and Matias Maccelli haven’t panned out. His blueline, so stout a year ago, looks old and tired and has been hurt.

The day the GM acquired Laughton, he also made the grave mistake of shedding young character centre Fraser Minten and a first-round pick to Boston for Brandon Carlo.

That Treliving only protected that first through the top five of a draft his team is now plummeting towards is concerning. Should these Leafs — losers of six straight — hand Boston a draft pick that lands between sixth and 10th overall? 

That alone could be a fireable offence.

Why not guard that first-round pick through 10?

“Because that’s what we had to do to get the deal done last year,” Treliving replied. 

How hard did he push for top 10?

“We pushed.”

A man of few assurances, Treliving took responsibility for his team’s “roster construction issues.” But he ducked all questions about the plan for the Maple Leafs beyond their stumble to the finish line, stating that today was no time for an “autopsy.”

Still, his faith in the core and a head coach he so forcefully endorsed in the past has been shaken.

Why does he believe Craig Berube is still the right man for this bench?

“Craig’s a terrific coach. It hasn't worked, right? So, when it doesn't work, we all share a blame, and we all share responsibility. So, starts with myself. It's the coaches. It's the players,” Treliving said. 

Like any bewildered bystander, he recognizes the problem. He simply doesn’t present any solutions.

“There’s got to be some change. And I think that’s for us to sit down and look hard and fast at. It's been a disappointing year,” Treliving said.

And a disappointing deadline.

“You hope and wish it was more,” Treliving said. “We have to collect some young assets. And today’s the day to make changes as we lead into the end of the year. And into the spring and summer is another opportunity.”

For whom, though?

One-Timers…

• Oliver Ekman-Larsson — signed through 2027-28 at a reasonable $3.5 million — remains a Leaf, despite trade interest.

“With term left on his contract, we required a return there that I thought would be fair, and nobody met that level,” Treliving said.

• The Maple Leafs sent Easton Cowan and Jacob Quillan down to the Marlies in a paper move so those forwards can be eligible for the AHL playoffs. Expect more Marlies to get a peek in the show as Toronto skates out its final 19 games.

• Treliving was open to retaining money and/or taking on other teams’ bad contracts (he was up for eating the Andrew Mangiapane deal, for example) to increase returns. It didn’t happen. 

The biggest hindrance to weaponizing cap space, Treliving believes, is that increased budget space in the system now that the salary cap is spiking.

“There wasn't a lot of teams, other than one or two, that had cap issues that you normally see, right? You normally see double retention and guys trying to slot guys in. That wasn't as big a factor as it had been in the past,” he said.

• Did Treliving ask any Maple Leafs to waive their trade protection?

“I didn’t have any conversations. There was nothing to have conversations about.”

• New Lightning forward Corey Perry is trying to get to Toronto in time to start his second go-around with Tampa against the Leafs on Saturday.