It’s all very well and good that Toronto Maple Leafs general manager Brad Treliving has given his head coach Craig Berube another vote of confidence. But we know, in general, what those votes of confidence are worth in the NHL, if the losing continues. Additionally, it means even less when the GM himself is also on the hot seat with his own future on the line.
The Maple Leafs’ plummet to the bottom of the NHL‘s Eastern Conference ultimately led to the firing of assistant coach Marc Savard on Monday. The man in charge of the league’s worst power play took the first bullet.
But what about the futures of Berube and Treliving? Insider Chris Johnston noted after the Savard firing that it should be considered “a warning shot” to Berube and others around the Leafs organization.
On Tuesday, however, some holiday cheer from insider Elliotte Friedman for Toronto’s beleaguered front office. Writing for Sportsnet, Friedman said the management duo have nothing to fear at the moment.
According to multiple sources, the coaching/managerial changes stop there (with the Savard pink slip). GM Brad Treliving and head coach Craig Berube are not on the firing line.
Brad Treliving gives Berube another vote of confidence
Earlier in the day, in a meeting with the media, Treliving threw his full support behind his head coach, as he had done during the last ‘rock bottom’ segment of the season just over a month ago.
“I want to make it clear: I support Craig fully,” Treliving said. “It’s not lost on us where the team’s at. We live it every day. But I think we’ve got a real good coach.”
And what if the losing continues and a playoff spot seems to slip completely out of their grasp?
“I’m not going to get into hypotheticals of what happens with this,” answered Treliving. “We’ve got a good coach… And that’s not to say we don’t change some things, tweak some things. We’ve done that over the course of the last couple of weeks. When you get in these situations, to me, you have to band together and you look for collective solutions. And that’s what we’re trying to do.”
The GM insists the team is not giving up on the season and continues to look for trades that could help extricate them from the morass that they find themselves in.
Leafs GM not waving the white flag on the season
“I don’t think we’re turning the page on the season,” the GM said. “You know what’s going on in the league, you’re having discussions with other teams, so we’re not here waving a white flag. You always look at change, a lot of it.”
A top-six forward and a top-four defenseman would be nice.
The Leafs have been linked to names like Rasmus Andersson and Justin Faulk on the blueline, and Nazem Kadri and Alex Tuch up front. But in each case, the asking price will be substantial. Toronto’s lack of trade chips—be it draft picks or top prospects in the system—will continue to be a sticking point.
After their afternoon tilt with Pittsburgh on Tuesday, the Leafs are off until the weekend, when they’ll play back-to-back games against Ottawa (home) and Detroit (on the road).
