Brad Treliving: 'DNA has to change'

[The don godfather]

Trade Mathews. Start there and get a boatload for him.

 

[NVious]

Trade Mathews. Start there and get a boatload for him.

He has a NTC and won't waive, we could threaten to waive him, but that's pointless unless there was a replacement coming for him which will be next year when McDavid #ComesHome.

 

[Son of Nogatco]

They have no depth and little scoring and are in cap hell with zero wiggle room, and next year will be in tough to even make the playoffs.

I’ll happily take bets from you or anyone else who thinks they’ll miss the playoffs next year

 

[Nerowoy nora tolad]

You’re not wrong but IMO, the result is much better than the sum of their parts. They have 3 reliable pairings now. They lack a high end offensive distributor but most teams do.

Hot take but I would have loved to see Marner tried out on D in the regular season. I think with how the game is going, he would have had success back there. Not 10-15 years ago but today, yeah. He would have been that elite offensive threat they lack and he would be a RD to boot

It's an interesting idea, but seriously, when was the last time anybody made a F->D transition while in the NHL? Byfuglien? And before that...?

My memory may be faulty here, but wasn't Buff at least a utility D/F that the Hawks chose to put on forward full time?

 

[Nerowoy nora tolad]

Treveling destroyed the Flames, now he'll destroy the Leafs. They made it to game 7 with their starter injured against the best playoff team in the league. All he needs to do is make some teaks to the roster.

I do think to some extent people are forgetting what a murderers row of teams the leafs have faced in the playoffs in the Mathews/Marner era:

-Washington one year away from winning the cup
-2018 Bruins, 112 points, fourth in the league, and only 5 points from the president's trophy
-2019 Bruins, again tied for second in the league, and good enough to go to game 7 of the cup finals after being down 3-2to the leafs.
-A nasty, physical Torts style team in Columbus, in a best of five series, because weird bubble rules.
-2021 Canadiens. Yeah, I know.
-The defending Stanley Cup Champs that went to the finals that year after knocking out the leafs.
-The leafs finally snap the streak of 3 years in the cup finals for the Lightning in round 1, then lose to the cup finalist Panthers, who are again, one year away from winning the cup (sound familiar?).
-Bruins again, still tied for fifth in the league in points.
-Wild Card Sens in round 1, really the first playoff opponent in years that shouldn't pose much threat at all. And then losing in seven to the defending champ Panthers, who the Leafs nearly have a 3-0 series lead on, and an absolute wagon of a team that only lost 2 other games to anybody else in the east on the way to the finals.

If you show me that list

 

[Fatass]

Nope. The DNA is the moment gets too big for the top players and they look like they have no idea how to score. They do it all year long, scoring playoff style goals, and then when the moment arrives time and time again they can't do it.

That is what needs to change. The core has no believe they can do it and it shows. They need to change to screw you I am going down swinging and not "shit this is happening again"

DNA isn’t something that can change in the way you’re suggesting. Some players don’t have it in them to get their nose bloody. Others do. That’s what, I think, Treliving was referring to.

 

[Nerowoy nora tolad]

*If I'm the leafs GM in 2017 and you show me that list, I'd say there's a pretty good chance we're f***ed unless we build a flawless team that's a lock for the cup. I
Sure, they're butter soft, and they fall apart under pressure, but if they were in any other division they'd probably have gone to two or three CFs and probably a SCF by now.

 

[banks]

Saying "the DNA needs to change" is just another way of saying the same "changes need to happen" that management, coaches, players, and fans in Toronto say every year. And every year feels different at the time, until they get bounced in the playoffs early again. Then suddenly everyone says the same "changes need to happen" stuff again, again.

The fact is that the core of Matthews, Marner, Nylander, Tavares, Rielly keep staying the same and keep performing the same. Any change that happens outside of those 5 payers isn't "changing the DNA". Everything else has changed already, some parts multiple times. Making changes to the bottom 6, or signing a tough UFA, at this point is like changing the tires and windshield wipers on the same car. No difference.

Matthews, Marner, Nylander, Tavares, and Rielly. The change has to happen to them. Nothing else will make a difference. Let Marner and/or Tavares walk. Trade Matthews and/or Nylander. Trade or buy-out Rielly. Those are the only moves that matter. I'm fine if they get rid of all 5.

 

[HockeyVirus]

DNA isn’t something that can change in the way you’re suggesting. Some players don’t have it in them to get their nose bloody. Others do. That’s what, I think, Treliving was referring to.

I think most of this is narrative driven. Lots of star players have won cups who won't get their nose bloody, they were just surrounded by players who would. For every Kucherov, Bennet/Tkachuk, Brayden Schenn, etc there is a Stamkos, Barkov, Thomas, etc.

The problem is and always has been, the 4 guys are Stamkos. There is no Kucherov to throw the dirty elbows. That is the DNA change needed.

Frankly I burned out on this conversation years ago because fans who don't watch the Leafs try to gaslight me into what the ability of the stars I watch 90+ times a year and see how elite guys like Matthews are at board battles and how he generates most of his goals netfront and then hear how he doesn't do those things.

The problem is Marner and Nylander have 0 interest in a board battle, Tavares just gets the shit beat out of him but still tries, and Matthews isn't going to throw an elbow into the head of the guy he is battling he is battling with good sportsmanship.

The Leafs need to become bigger assholes

 

[RyCam]

He has a NTC and won't waive, we could threaten to waive him, but that's pointless unless there was a replacement coming for him which will be next year when McDavid #ComesHome.

Is there a reason why he wouldn't waive to go to a team like VGK or any other perennial cup contender?

 

[CascadiaPuck]

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