Treliving Supports Berube Amid Maple Leafs’ Challenging Season Start
Toronto Maple Leafs general manager Brad Treliving has expressed his full support for coach Craig Berube as the team navigates a disappointing start to the NHL season. In his usual mid-season media availability on Tuesday, Treliving was candid about how the Leafs have “underperformed,” considering their 8-9-2 record. Despite this, Treliving is confident that Berube is the right person to steer a Toronto team he considers “disconnected.”Berube was Treliving’s first coaching hire as general manager of the Leafs, after firing the previous coach, Sheldon Keefe, in May 2024. At the time, Treliving felt that Toronto needed a new voice, and the Leafs responded well to Berube last season, finishing at the top of the Atlantic Division with 108 points. This year, Toronto is on pace to reach only 78 points, and Treliving is still trying to understand why the Leafs have experienced such a decline in Berube’s second season. In addition to the loss of top-line winger Mitch Marner in free agency last summer, this is essentially the same group that Berube worked with in 2024-25. However, the results have not met Treliving’s standards, especially on the defensive side. The Leafs are conceding the second-most goals in the league (3.79 per game) and the fifth-most shots against (31.2). Their goalies have performed averagely: starter Anthony Stolarz has a 6-5-1 record with a save percentage of .884, far from the outstanding performance he had last season. Treliving also observes a general lack of “enthusiasm” in the team, suggesting that something must change for Toronto to contend for the playoffs again. They are currently four points away from a wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference, before Tuesday’s game against St. Louis, Berube’s former team. Treliving emphasized that it’s up to the Leafs players to solve their problems, rather than management seeking new additions or renewing staff.“I have full faith in our coach right now, so I don’t see that as the problem,” Treliving said. “I believe in Craig and his message. Craig didn’t become a bad coach overnight.”
Treliving
Treliving also declined to blame the Leafs’ injury problems for their struggles. Toronto is without several key players, including Auston Matthews (lower body), Stolarz (upper body), Nic Roy (upper body), Chris Tanev (upper body), Scott Laughton (upper body), and Brandon Carlo (lower body), all unavailable. This has significantly impacted the depth at center and defense for the Leafs, and it’s a challenge they’ll have to overcome in the short term. Toronto claimed defenseman Troy Stetcher off waivers from Edmonton this week as a temporary measure, and goaltender Joseph Woll, who played his first game of the season on Saturday after a month-long absence for personal reasons, should be back in full form soon. However, Matthews only resumed skating on Tuesday and will miss his second straight game, while Laughton could return on Thursday against Columbus. Treliving insists that, unless Toronto can play better collectively, it won’t matter who is in the lineup.“The reality of the business is that you’re not going to get out of problems through trades,” Treliving said. “We’re not going to panic and start throwing things overboard just to do something. My job right now is to support our coach, support his message, and support our group, and to push the group.”
Treliving
“I think there’s been too much ‘vanilla’ with our team,” Treliving said. “I think you can count on one hand how many complete games we’ve had. Put anyone in the uniform. If we play like we’re playing, we’ll probably have the same result.”
Treliving
