Brad Treliving is doing a great job.

[DarkKnight]

Up until last year, OEL has been a number 1 of 2 his entire career. Tanev has been a topish pair D man forever. I’m surprised by OEL so far, but then you step back and realize his pedigree does lend itself to this high minute contribution. Tanev is a horse, has been a horse, will be a horse. These two have completely remade our D, literally added a top pair in many respects. We didn’t add depth D, we added top end D. Even if OEL regresses, he was a 5 on the best defensive team in hockey that won a cup, that’s top four here all day long. Tanev, some argued was the best D man in the playoffs last year.

If this D holds up, man has Tre had a major impact, we’ve added 2 top four D man, and damn good ones at that.

 

[Evilhomer]

Up until last year, OEL has been a number 1 of 2 his entire career. Tanev has been a topish pair D man forever. I’m surprised by OEL so far, but then you step back and realize his pedigree does lend itself to this high minute contribution. Tanev is a horse, has been a horse, will be a horse. These two have completely remade our D, literally added a top pair in many respects. We didn’t add depth D, we added top end D. Even if OEL regresses, he was a 5 on the best defensive team in hockey that won a cup, that’s top four here all day long. Tanev, some argued was the best D man in the playoffs last year.

If this D holds up, man has Tre had a major impact, we’ve added 2 top four D man, and damn good ones at that.

Basically what I said all summer. I think people are (still) under-estimating how significant the upgrades to the defense have been.

 

[centipede2233]

I even look at treliving Calgary moves, the tkachuk trade, kadri signing, markstrom signing, these were really good moves. Huberdeau falling off a cliff wasn’t treliving’s fault, that’s a coach and/or player fault. Then he walks into a leaf team where dubas left him no picks, no cap flexibility, and this past summer was his first chance with a little wiggle room and so far hit home runs with tanev, OEL and stolarz. They are not superstars, but they are good nhl players who hit above their caphit, which is what Toronto needs. I trust treliving now.

 

[sxvnert]

The lilegren & patch signings were the only mistakes.

OEL, Lorentz, Tanev, Stolarz, and Hakanpää (when he returns) were solid.

 

[Martin Skoula]

I even look at treliving Calgary moves, the tkachuk trade, kadri signing, markstrom signing, these were really good moves. Huberdeau falling off a cliff wasn’t treliving’s fault, that’s a coach and/or player fault. Then he walks into a leaf team where dubas left him no picks, no cap flexibility, and this past summer was his first chance with a little wiggle room and so far hit home runs with tanev, OEL and stolarz. They are not superstars, but they are good nhl players who hit above their caphit, which is what Toronto needs. I trust treliving now.

Tkachuk trade was solid but no one forced him to sign Huberdeau to a retirement contract without him playing a single game for them. Kadri’s a nice player but he’s signed until he’s 37 and it cost a 1st to dump Monahan for the cap space to sign him, and Monahan was flipped for a 1st a few months later. Calgary could be sitting on an extra 3 1sts+ and almost 20mil in cap space not going to a 2C and perimeter winger signed through their late 30s.

I can’t imagine the backlash if Carolina somehow flipped Marleau for a 1st at the deadline, let alone someone calling it a really good move later. Tre had some good moves in Calgary without needing to do weird revisionist history.

 

[centipede2233]

I’d rather have treliving then doofus

 

[sxvnert]

Tkachuk trade was solid but no one forced him to sign Huberdeau to a retirement contract without him playing a single game for them.

Im sure ownership wanted to avoid an entire season of media speculation on whether Huberdeau & Weegar would resign.

 

[DarkKnight]

Dubists in the fetal position.

 

[Larcos_Unal]

BELIEVE IN BUNDY

 

[Shooter2x]

Tkachuk trade was solid but no one forced him to sign Huberdeau to a retirement contract without him playing a single game for them. Kadri’s a nice player but he’s signed until he’s 37 and it cost a 1st to dump Monahan for the cap space to sign him, and Monahan was flipped for a 1st a few months later. Calgary could be sitting on an extra 3 1sts+ and almost 20mil in cap space not going to a 2C and perimeter winger signed through their late 30s.

I can’t imagine the backlash if Carolina somehow flipped Marleau for a 1st at the deadline, let alone someone calling it a really good move later. Tre had some good moves in Calgary without needing to do weird revisionist history.

I get second hand embarrassment reading this pile of trash that thinks it proves Tre did "weird revisionist history"

 

[conFABulator]

Dubists in the fetal position.

I am guessing that a "Dubist" is some sort of Kyle Dubas fan boy who believes KD can do no wrong?

That's not me and maybe that's why I am not in the fetal position right now, but I was a Dubas supporter and believe he made a lot of good moves and that we will benefit from those this year.

Having said this, it was time for him to move on. I was glad that we did and I was concerned that Treliving was the next man in. Tre's first few moves, singing Klingberg and Reaves, concerned me.

We can get into a "who drafted the player (scout or gm) but I see the GMs role as assembling and retaining talent and Tre inherited a roster that included Matthews, Marner, Knies, Nylander, Tavares, Robertson, McMann, Kampf, Jarnkrok, Holmberg, Reilly, McCabe, Liljegren, Timmins, Woll, and Hildeby. That's a pretty solid core. Maybe the core four was making a collective $4M than we would like through the Dubas years, and more this year as we knew would happen in the final JT year but he kept the group together and if the cap hadn't gone flat and had $15M more on it we might not feel the slightest overpays as much. He also left us with Minten, Niemela, and Akhtyamov.

Tre definitely put his fingerprints on this team adding useful players with size and/or grit in Domi, Pacioretty, Lorentz, Reaves, Dewar, Tanev, OEL, Benoit, Hakanpaa, Myers, and Stolarz. He also added Cowan, Danford, and Webber to the prospect pool. We are in decent cap shape too and let's see what Tre does with Kampf, Jarnkrok and Liljegren, two of which were his (re)signings.

Of course, swapping Berube for Keefe has a big impact.

My point? At this point in time, when we are feeling good about our start and maybe even our prospects for the season it's easy to see the contribution both GMs have had and it seems as though Tre was the right guy to follow Dubas.

 

[Nineteen67]

It’s only 4 games, but this is the best they’ve looked in a long time.

I wouldn’t mind it if he somehow got Danault from LA.

 

[CincoHolio]

It's gonna take more time to give him a proper review and see the full impact of his moves, but I do feel like at the very least he has a much better read on defense and goaltending than Dubas ever did. In Calgary as well he built a good D and went out and got Markstrom to shore up the goaltending. Given this franchise's inability to develop good d-men and historically having weaker defensive teams, along with a lack of reliable goaltending in two decades outside of Andersen, this is refreshing to see.

I consider this season to be the first where he is really trying to make his mark, as last year he came into a bit of a volatile situation where he didn't have much time to work with and used it as an assessment year.

Why I think Tre should get a pass for last season, is he smartly, only signed 1 yr deals on the big ticket FA signings. It bought some time to really evaluate what the team needed without completely handcuffing himself down the line.

 

[Gary Nylund]

I am guessing that a "Dubist" is some sort of Kyle Dubas fan boy who believes KD can do no wrong?

That's not me and maybe that's why I am not in the fetal position right now, but I was a Dubas supporter and believe he made a lot of good moves and that we will benefit from those this year.

Having said this, it was time for him to move on. I was glad that we did and I was concerned that Treliving was the next man in. Tre's first few moves, singing Klingberg and Reaves, concerned me.

We can get into a "who drafted the player (scout or gm) but I see the GMs role as assembling and retaining talent and Tre inherited a roster that included Matthews, Marner, Knies, Nylander, Tavares, Robertson, McMann, Kampf, Jarnkrok, Holmberg, Reilly, McCabe, Liljegren, Timmins, Woll, and Hildeby. That's a pretty solid core. Maybe the core four was making a collective $4M than we would like through the Dubas years, and more this year as we knew would happen in the final JT year but he kept the group together and if the cap hadn't gone flat and had $15M more on it we might not feel the slightest overpays as much. He also left us with Minten, Niemela, and Akhtyamov.

Tre definitely out his fingerprints on this team adding useful players with size and/or grit in Domi, Pacioretty, Lorentz, Reaves, Dewar, Tanev, OEL, Benoit, Hakanpaa, Myers, and Stolarz. He also added Cowan, Danford, and Webber to the prospect pool. We are in decent cap shape too and let's see what Tre does with Kampf, Jarnkrok and Liljegren, two of which were his (re)signings.

Of course, swapping Berube for Keefe is a big impact.

My point? At this point in time, when we are feeling good about our start and maybe even our prospects for the season it's easy to see the contribution both GMs have had and it seems as though Tre was the right guy to follow Dubas.

Great post! It's so easy to shit all over Dubas like so many seem to be gleefully doing but I've always said he did more good than bad while he was here.

We're looking good so far but we weren't great last season, this season's only 4 games old, we still have the same core and in the end, they're the ones that are going to have to show they can play, not choke in game 7's and if they finally are able to do that, not sure it's on Dubas that they pissed away the last 8 years by folding when the chips are all in. We had teams good enough to win before but Dubas can't go out on the ice and do it for them. In any case, I'd wait until we have some playoff success before chirping about how great the team is and how great Tre is the way some people are doing. We've had regular season success many, many times so what's the big deal about 4 good games against mostly poor to mediocre opponents?

That said, Tre's season so far is looking good far, much better than the last off-season for sure. I say enjoy the ride but remember that the real season doesn't even start for another 6 months.

 

[conFABulator]

Great post! It's so easy to shit all over Dubas like so many seem to be gleefully doing but I've always said he did more good than bad while he was here.

We're looking good so far but we weren't great last season, this season's only 4 games old, we still have the same core and in the end, they're the ones that are going to have to show they can play, not choke in game 7's and if they finally are able to do that, not sure it's on Dubas that they pissed away the last 8 years by folding when the chips are all in. We had teams good enough to win before but Dubas can't go out on the ice and do it for them. In any case, I'd wait until we have some playoff success before chirping about how great the team is and how great Tre is the way some people are doing. We've had regular season success many, many times so what's the big deal about 4 good games against mostly poor to mediocre opponents?

That said, Tre's season so far is looking good far, much better than the last off-season for sure. I say enjoy the ride but remember that the real season doesn't even start for another 6 months.

Agreed, it is all about the playoffs and that's fair but it doesn't mean the regular season doesn't matter. I think we could accomplish a lot of things that might serve us very well in the playoffs.

(1) Win the division.
(2) Develop more scoring balance and depth.
(3) Develop a PP and PK that can succeed in the playoffs.
(4) Have two or three healthy goalies we believe in come playoffs.
(5) Playing and succeeding in tougher style games.

Wouldn't we feel better about our chances of three or four of the above were true by year end?

 

[613Leafer]

It's early, but what an offseason so far. Stolarz + OEL + Tanev + Lorentz + Pacioretty have all looked like solid adds and directly addressed some of this teams shortcomings. If Hakanpaa can play, he's historically been a really solid but physical depth RHD. I'm also really liking what I'm seeing from Berube.

Liljegren's extension is looking questionable, and Woll's we'll have to see as well. But the overall body of work this past offseason is looking a lot better than last year's.

 

[Gary Nylund]

Agreed, it is all about the playoffs and that's fair but it doesn't mean the regular season doesn't matter. I think we could accomplish a lot of things that might serve us very well in the playoffs.

(1) Win the division.
(2) Develop more scoring balance and depth.
(3) Develop a PP and PK that can succeed in the playoffs.
(4) Have two or three healthy goalies we believe in come playoffs.
(5) Playing and succeeding in tougher style games.

Wouldn't we feel better about our chances of three or four of the above were true by year end?

All this could happen, let's hope it does. Would sure be nice for something good to happen, boy have these last few years ever sucked!

 

[Evilhomer]

I look at this as being somewhat similar to what happened with the Islanders after they hired Lou. He made some moves that a lot of people questioned (Matt Martin, Uncle Leo, etc.), and most people didn't appreciate how those pieces would fit together. Then he hired Trotz, and that single move pretty much transformed everything for the Islanders. I think we will look back on Berube's hiring as doing the same thing.

 

[conFABulator]

Up until last year, OEL has been a number 1 of 2 his entire career. Tanev has been a topish pair D man forever. I’m surprised by OEL so far, but then you step back and realize his pedigree does lend itself to this high minute contribution. Tanev is a horse, has been a horse, will be a horse. These two have completely remade our D, literally added a top pair in many respects. We didn’t add depth D, we added top end D. Even if OEL regresses, he was a 5 on the best defensive team in hockey that won a cup, that’s top four here all day long. Tanev, some argued was the best D man in the playoffs last year.

If this D holds up, man has Tre had a major impact, we’ve added 2 top four D man, and damn good ones at that.

Agreed.

We did ALSO add depth D too. I think if we ever get a health Hakanpaa he will change the bottom pairing and PK. I think Myers is nice depth too and could be RD version of Benoit which give us nice flexibility.

Reilly Tanev
OEL McCabe
Benoit Hakanpaa
Myers Liljegren

Or

Reilly Tanev
OEL Liljegren
McCabe Hakanpaa
Benoit Myers

What I think I would love to see is a trade for a top four RD (even ahead of a 3C on the priority list). We have Kampf, Jarnkrok and Liljegren to free up the space and get some assets back and we have some prospects like Grebenkin, Niemela, Akhtyamov, Rifai, Webber and our 1st. I don't want to move Minten, Cowan or Hildeby and I want someone with term.

Reilly Tanev
McCabe Parayko/Weegar
OEL Hakanpaa
Myers

That's a top D corps, no?

 

[Menzinger]

It's early days, but it looks like a great off-season so far for Tre I was particularly intrigued by OEL rebounding and he looks solid.

Though, I also liked last off-season initially and in retrospect there were a fair amount of dud moves.

But I do think this year has less of a chance of that trend repeating this year. It's helped that Domi has started to cement chemistry and the new D have stepped up big-time immediately

 

[hoglund]

I'm considering not renewing my sportsnet subscription. Tired of watching the same thing, or maybe I'll just pay to watch the 2nd half of the season and playoffs when there are stakes. I'm also tired of paying $200+hst for 50 leaf games. It's not a great deal. I'm aware of alternate services but I just don't like dealing with what comes with that

Sportsnet is great for BlueJays and world series games, they have all BlueJay games except 2 or 3 that Apple tv air.

 

[4thline]

Dubists in the fetal position.

Tre had a much much better offseason this time around. I really like the way the team is shaping up- juggling the cap will be interesting, as will the decisions of who plays and who goes once all forwards are available- but getting at least one of Dewar/Jarncrok back should stiffen the 3rd line defensively and bolster the PK. I'd argue that the best version of our team has both- but we fitting that will be tought.

I caught a lot of flack as a "Dubist" for pointing out and not embracing Tre's very obvious mistakes last year- but while it's a shame we lost last year at least he's fixed them and we're in a great spot for this and the next 1-2.

 

[All Mod Cons]

I am guessing that a "Dubist" is some sort of Kyle Dubas fan boy who believes KD can do no wrong?

That's not me and maybe that's why I am not in the fetal position right now, but I was a Dubas supporter and believe he made a lot of good moves and that we will benefit from those this year.

Having said this, it was time for him to move on. I was glad that we did and I was concerned that Treliving was the next man in. Tre's first few moves, singing Klingberg and Reaves, concerned me.

We can get into a "who drafted the player (scout or gm) but I see the GMs role as assembling and retaining talent and Tre inherited a roster that included Matthews, Marner, Knies, Nylander, Tavares, Robertson, McMann, Kampf, Jarnkrok, Holmberg, Reilly, McCabe, Liljegren, Timmins, Woll, and Hildeby. That's a pretty solid core. Maybe the core four was making a collective $4M than we would like through the Dubas years, and more this year as we knew would happen in the final JT year but he kept the group together and if the cap hadn't gone flat and had $15M more on it we might not feel the slightest overpays as much. He also left us with Minten, Niemela, and Akhtyamov.

Tre definitely put his fingerprints on this team adding useful players with size and/or grit in Domi, Pacioretty, Lorentz, Reaves, Dewar, Tanev, OEL, Benoit, Hakanpaa, Myers, and Stolarz. He also added Cowan, Danford, and Webber to the prospect pool. We are in decent cap shape too and let's see what Tre does with Kampf, Jarnkrok and Liljegren, two of which were his (re)signings.

Of course, swapping Berube for Keefe has a big impact.

My point? At this point in time, when we are feeling good about our start and maybe even our prospects for the season it's easy to see the contribution both GMs have had and it seems as though Tre was the right guy to follow Dubas.

The problem is Kyle did way more bad than good and really derailed us from what should have been a fairly plain sailing rebuild.

The Kadri trade
The Marchment trade
Exposing McCann for Holl (use your f***ing head Kyle)
The Marleau trade
Signing Mrazek
The cost to quickly remove Mrazek
The Johnsson signing
The Foligno trade
The signing of half a dozen Euro UFAs, to then give them away a couple of months later
Hiring his buddy to be the coach without interviewing a single other candidate
Dealing with RFAs

Like i can't honestly can't tell if he was trying?

 

[1specter]

The lilegren & patch signings were the only mistakes.

OEL, Lorentz, Tanev, Stolarz, and Hakanpää (when he returns) were solid.

Too early to call Patch a mistake, especially when he's looked mostly good so far. He should also be playing with JT rather than on a line with Holmberg and Robertson which is a strange mix of players.

 

[thusk]

I even look at treliving Calgary moves, the tkachuk trade, kadri signing, markstrom signing, these were really good moves. Huberdeau falling off a cliff wasn’t treliving’s fault, that’s a coach and/or player fault. Then he walks into a leaf team where dubas left him no picks, no cap flexibility, and this past summer was his first chance with a little wiggle room and so far hit home runs with tanev, OEL and stolarz. They are not superstars, but they are good nhl players who hit above their caphit, which is what Toronto needs. I trust treliving now.

Tre didn't hit hone run, its completly the reverse. He goes for the hit with played he know really well. Tanev from his time in calgary but also Oel during from his time in Arizona, he knew exactly what those 2 player would bring to leafs.

It was working because tanev and oel bring complementary thing to the group already there