Call it a ‘distaste’ for the way the team has played. Toronto Maple Leafs GM Brad Treliving met the media Tuesday morning to take questions as the team has floundered. A five-game losing streak has them tied for last place in the Eastern Conference. But while the GM took responsibility for the team’s record, he just doesn’t like the…flavour of play his troops have dished out so far:
”There’s been too much vanilla,” Treliving answered when asked to describe his team’s identity so far this season. “I think you can count on one hand how many complete games we’ve had.”
He also went on to list a number of shortcomings he sees in his club’s play:
- Inconsistency
- A lack of commitment
- A lack of enthusiasm at times
- Struggles on defense (for which, he admitted, he is looking for solutions)
- Struggles on offense
- The new additions this year “have not met expectations”
Yeah, that just about covers it.
Leafs GM calls out new acquisitions
He wouldn’t name names, but Treliving expected his offseason acquisitions to do more:
”There’s a different level they can get to,” Treliving said of the unnamed newbies, who were happy to name for you here: Matias Maccelli, Dakota Joshua, Nic Roy. “The new guys, they would tell you, and I’m not here to start singling out people, but there’s a different level they can get to.
“They need to be better. We have to give them a path to be better. The expectation is that they can and they will be better.”
GM says Leafs ‘Not where we want to be’
For a team that was supposed to be a Stanley Cup contender, despite the loss of Mitch Marner, the 8-9-2 record for a conference-low 18 points is a stunning disappointment.
“We’re not where we want to be, or where we envisioned to be,” the GM said in a massive understatement.
Making a trade, however, to try to shake things up, will prove to be difficult, as the team is said to have its most marketable players all listed as ‘untouchable.’
Treliving admitted, in fact, that he’s not expecting anything notable on that front. He said he’s always looking to improve the team, but added, “You’re not trading your way out of problems.”
The one employee he did name, head coach Craig Berube, is someone he still has full confidence in.
The Leafs will have a chance to respond to their boss’s comments in short order, taking on the St. Louis Blues Tuesday night. The Blues are one of the very few teams in the NHL struggling as badly out of the gate as the Maple Leafs.
