The Toronto Maple Leafs’ general manager, Brad Treliving, has expressed his full support for coach Craig Berube, as the team faces a disappointing start to the season in the NHL. In his usual meeting with the media a quarter of the season in, Treliving was frank about the “underperformance” of the Leafs, who currently have an 8-9-2 record. Despite this, Treliving is confident that Berube is the right person to guide a Toronto team that he considers “disconnected”.
Berube was Treliving’s first coaching hire as general manager of the Leafs, after firing Sheldon Keefe in May 2024. At the time, Treliving felt Toronto needed a new voice, and the Leafs responded well to Berube last season, finishing atop the Atlantic Division with 108 points. However, this year, Toronto is on pace to add only 78 points, and Treliving is still trying to understand why the Leafs have had this decline in Berube’s second season. Aside from the loss of first-line winger, Mitch Marner, in free agency last summer, this is essentially the same group that Berube worked with in the 2024-25 season. The results, however, have been below Treliving’s standards, especially on defense. 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, with Anthony Stolarz having a 6-5-1 record and a save percentage of .884, far from last season’s outstanding performance. Treliving also observes a general lack of “enthusiasm” in the team, suggesting that something must change for Toronto to get back in the playoff hunt. They are currently four points out of a wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference, ahead of 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 at the moment, so I don’t see that as a problem. I believe in Craig and his message. Craig didn’t become a bad coach overnight.
Brad Treliving
Treliving also declined to blame the Leafs’ injuries for their struggles. Toronto has several significant absences, 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 of whom are out. This has significantly impacted the Leafs’ center depth and defense, 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 plays better collectively, it won’t matter who is in the lineup.The reality of the business is that you are not going to solve the problems with transfers. We are not going to panic and start getting rid of things just to do something. My job at this moment is to support our coach, support his message and support our group, and push the group.
Brad Treliving
I think there’s been too much “vanilla” on our team. 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.
Brad Treliving
