Brad Treliving is doing a great job.

[TheTotalPackage]

Division title notched. But with this core and group, what will define them is playoff success. They fall flat again, and Treliving will seriously need to re-consider shaking things up.

That being said, he identified the major weaknesses of the team -- D (particularly RHD) and toughness back there, and stable goaltending. He solidified both last offseason and in-season this year. Full marks for that.

No real homeruns, but that's not what was really needed anyways.

 

[Mess]

Going from a GM that doesn't know the first thing about finding goalies to a GM who promptly found a hidden gem elite goalie who leads the league in SV% is a pretty wild swing.

Maybe instead of being the team getting "goalie'd" in playoff series and making excuses for losing we can finally be on the other side of it!

Precisely Watson !!!

Here are the final standings of top teams in the NHL this year

Here are the top 5 teams Save% on the 2024-25 season.

Who would have thought that the teams with the best NHL season point was would also be connected to the teams that had the best goaltending team performances also?

I guess our GM Treliving certainly understood the value of sound goaltending being the key to success.

The Leafs are no longer built as a one dimensional team to have their success dictated by 4 Core forwards alone outscoring and/or getting out goalie'd. The tables have turned and now we're in the drivers seat.

 

[Fogelhund]

Here are the final standings of top teams in the NHL this year

View attachment 1015232

Well... everyone has a game left, so the standings aren't quite final, but the point is still valid even with them not quite being final.

Ultimately, the team looks good, and is playing what appears to be a way to achieve success, but all that will matter, is if they actually have success in the playoffs. That's what everyone will be judged on here, Tre, Berube, the players...

 

[Mess]

The best aspect of this teams configuration is that either goalie can step in and shut a team down. Much of this has to do with the team defense, especially the last month or so. They have strong stick work and ability to eliminate lanes from the opponent. Both goalies do their job as one cog in the machine.

Stolarz will start but the team has confidence in both goalies for justified reasons.

I've said it again, defense wins championships. Brad picked up players I didn't consider which he deserves credit for. If the Leafs falter again, fans should have complete confidence he can allocate the Cap space well:

OEL: I didn't realize that this guy has game. He plays the game with commitment. A pleasant surprise.

Tanev: Far better than anyone could have expected. A legitimate shut down D Man that all Cup teams need. When he and McCabe are partnered they are going against the oppositions top lines and they quietly shut then down. For me he's the MVP this regular season

Lorentz: Full of energy and commitment to the forecheck. He will be an unsung hero on a team that wins, get a couple of key goals on a run. Yesterday I think was his 5th Game Winner out of 8 goals. No garbage points all season

Stolarz: Who saw the season he was going to have? Who had him on their radar for pick up? No one.

Carlo: One of those sleeper pick ups I instantly liked. Solidifies the back end and Reilly has played some of his best hockey with him this year. It's akin to picking up 1.5 players in one trade.

Laughton: Had perhaps his best game last night and if he can play in that manner, driving the net, getting to pucks, laying out the body against a guy (a full follow-through body check) who took a shot at him earlier in the game. As long as one doesn't do something stupid, a message is sent. You can tell he wants to win and he will have an impact this playoffs if he plays as he did last night.


Brad picked up some Gamers and it seems obvious to me that the core know it. Certainly Matthews and JT look more serious than any prior season.

I promised I wouldn't gaslight myself so this playoffs will either confirm what we see or confirm what we should have learned to accept.

Well said ..

Tanev was 5th in the league in blocked shots and that is huge when it comes to assisting your goaltenders.

"Good teams are built from the Goalie OUT, through strong defense,... " ​

Our goaltending was ranked #3rd overall with Woll and Stolarz and the additions for Tanev, Carlo, OEL and Beniot added to Rielly and McCabe is a MASSIVE upgrade from the days we were protecting Justin Holl in the expansion draft because he was TOO important to lose.

Now we have a REAL NHL coach also who has recently WON as Stanley Cup thus a proven record of success and knowing what it takes to coach a team through 4 rounds.

Thank BT... A job well done as this gives Leaf Nation fans real hope for success this year.

 

[banks]

The Carlo trade was the best deadline move I can remember for this team. Finally, someone who can play with Rielly. And with them as a pair, all the other defense pairings finally fit together properly. Minutes can be handled more evenly, specifically Morgan's ice time can be more reasonable.

I love that trade so much.

 

[notbias]

Fellas, don’t entertain notbias. He’s quite clearly a Dubasite. Kyle Dumbass was quite easily the most piss poor pathetic GM this team has ever had and it’s taken us some time to recover from the damage he did. Our team looks much better and balanced under Tre and I look forward to watching Tre continue to improve our club.

It is always funny that you people need a safe space because if someone challenges your opinions, it is too difficult to defend them.

Dubas wasn't even the worst GM in the last 10 years, let alone the history of the team.

Going from a GM that doesn't know the first thing about finding goalies to a GM who promptly found a hidden gem elite goalie who leads the league in SV% is a pretty wild swing.

Maybe instead of being the team getting "goalie'd" in playoff series and making excuses for losing we can finally be on the other side of it!

Does no one on this board remember Campbell or Samsanov?

Campbell had some great seasons and even a good playoff.

Samsanov had a great season.

Seems weird to be doing victory laps in the regular season.

Stolarz looks great, very confident in him, but we've done this song and dance many times.

 

[Dreakmur]

Dubas was not their worst GM. Not really even close.

Wasn't the right guy at the time but he built some pretty good teams.

They were not ever able to get over the hump, and hopefully this year they do but building a team that is always going to get 100 points is in no way bad

No, he wasn’t outright terrible, but he inherited almost everything good about the teams he ran.

He was good at identifying value in players, but he was clueless on how to built an actual competitive team. That resulted in us having a lot of good players that added up to much less than the sum of their values.

Treliving, on the other hand, is almost the opposite. Struggles to identify value at times, but can really build a team.

 

[Ports]

It's hockey, so anything can happen and anyone can win.

But this team is getting older, he has signed basically our entire top 4 until they retire (Rielly was before).

I am not betting on our team getting significantly better year over year...

I think you can comment on what he has done for now without being shamed for doing so.

This team is basically the same as every year, same core players, patch work around the edges, a backup/struggling goalie hopefully will save the day.

Their defense is much better. Bigger and harder to play against. They clear the net front and have reduced second and third chances. Their goaltending is more consistent and deeper with two top 15 goalies. Of course the playoffs are the real test but it’s pretty easy to see that this team is the best balanced team of the last 9 seasons and has the ability to feel comfortable and have success in lower scoring playoff games.

 

[Ports]

It looks like he's passing all the tests.

An Atlantic Division win for the first time in a quarter of a century would be nice.

Playoffs are the real indicator though. If he can win a round he would've equaled the accomplishments of the greatest GM we've ever had, in only his 2nd season.

Who’s the greatest GM we’ve ever had ?

 

[Ports]

Basically traded Bertuzzi and spare parts for:

Tanev @4.5
OEL @3.5
Carlo @3.5
Stolarz @ 2.5
Berube
Lorentz @ under 1.0

That's like 10+ million in surplus value and includes a #1 goalie at 2.5 m. Incredible work. Even if we flame out, it's hard to deny he's done all the right things to give this core group a chance.

Well put.

 

[Jojalu]

No, he wasn’t outright terrible, but he inherited almost everything good about the teams he ran.

He was good at identifying value in players, but he was clueless on how to built an actual competitive team. That resulted in us having a lot of good players that added up to much less than the sum of their values.

Treliving, on the other hand, is almost the opposite. Struggles to identify value at times, but can really build a team.

Yes.

I think Dubas built the D better than people give him credit, but he was awful at securing a true #1 goalie.

Some guys that came through had decent runs, and the numbers looked ok, but were plagued come playoff time of either not being able to make the big save, or giving up some really weak ones.

Now in Pit it looks like more of the same.

 

[Ports]

Dubas was not their worst GM. Not really even close.

Wasn't the right guy at the time but he built some pretty good teams.

They were not ever able to get over the hump, and hopefully this year they do but building a team that is always going to get 100 points is in no way bad

You’re right, there’s a lot of competition for worst Leaf GM and over the 60 years I’ve been watching this team Dubas isn’t close to the worst. Having said, it’s hard to argue that Dubas/Shanahan were never able to build a complete team that was built to win in the playoffs. They over emphasized skill over size and physicality and drafted and traded for a lot of smaller skilled players who weren’t able to compete in more physical playoff hockey. They didn’t realize they had enough skill already in their top forward group but needed to add the missing element of a solid bigger backend and deeper, more reliable goaltending. They should have seen this after the Montreal series at the latest but wouldn’t make the necessary changes while believing their core group alone would eventually break through. In essence, they wasted 4-5 years of their star players peak years while refusing to change the obvious. They were not the Leafs worst management group but they may have been the most disappointing.

 

[notbias]

No, he wasn’t outright terrible, but he inherited almost everything good about the teams he ran.

He was good at identifying value in players, but he was clueless on how to built an actual competitive team. That resulted in us having a lot of good players that added up to much less than the sum of their values.

Treliving, on the other hand, is almost the opposite. Struggles to identify value at times, but can really build a team.

Based on?

His time in Calgary? His regular season record?

It seems crazy how much this regular season has changed people's opinion on how important the regular season is.

"We play different"... Prove it with anything statistically, the only thing that has improved is goaltending.

 

[notbias]

Their defense is much better. Bigger and harder to play against. They clear the net front and have reduced second and third chances. Their goaltending is more consistent and deeper with two top 15 goalies. Of course the playoffs are the real test but it’s pretty easy to see that this team is the best balanced team of the last 9 seasons and has the ability to feel comfortable and have success in lower scoring playoff games.

Can you show the stats on reduced second/third chances compared to the past 5 years? I'd be curious to see which seasons that was the best.

Also, how are you measuring the better defensive play?

Goaltending, sure.

 

[arso40]

The Carlo trade was the best deadline move I can remember for this team. Finally, someone who can play with Rielly. And with them as a pair, all the other defense pairings finally fit together properly. Minutes can be handled more evenly, specifically Morgan's ice time can be more reasonable.

I love that trade so much.

I mean that was supposed to be tanev but realistically we always needed 2 rhd

 

[notbias]

The Carlo trade was the best deadline move I can remember for this team. Finally, someone who can play with Rielly. And with them as a pair, all the other defense pairings finally fit together properly. Minutes can be handled more evenly, specifically Morgan's ice time can be more reasonable.

I love that trade so much.

Muzzin > Carlo.

Carlo trade has been good though.

 

[arso40]

Yes.

I think Dubas built the D better than people give him credit, but he was awful at securing a true #1 goalie.

Some guys that came through had decent runs, and the numbers looked ok, but were plagued come playoff time of either not being able to make the big save, or giving up some really weak ones.

Now in Pit it looks like more of the same.

When you need a right handed d and you take Brodie over tanev I have to disagree he also gave rielly his contract traded sandin I think dubas failed in that regard he always got one dman and thought his job was done we’ve always needed a couple dman tanev and Carlo make a big difference imagine if we only had tanev that’s dubas work

 

[SnizzNasty88]

Dubas was not their worst GM. Not really even close.

Wasn't the right guy at the time but he built some pretty good teams.

They were not ever able to get over the hump, and hopefully this year they do but building a team that is always going to get 100 points is in no way bad

Kyle Dumbass was quite easily the worst, simply based on the fact that he inherited the most while achieving the absolute least. Don’t even get me started on all the bad trades, signings and decisions he made. Knies is nice though, but one gem in 5 years? Pathetic.

 

[notbias]

Kyle Dumbass was quite easily the worst, simply based on the fact that he inherited the most while achieving the absolute least. Don’t even get me started on all the bad trades, signings and decisions he made. Knies is nice though, but one gem in 5 years? Pathetic.

Please, get started.

0/10 on the history of the GMs so far, would love to see you stumble through how Foligno was the worst trade ever, while Laughton is trending to be worse.

 

[Jojalu]

You’re right, there’s a lot of competition for worst Leaf GM and over the 60 years I’ve been watching this team Dubas isn’t close to the worst. Having said, it’s hard to argue that Dubas/Shanahan were never able to build a complete team that was built to win in the playoffs. They over emphasized skill over size and physicality and drafted and traded for a lot of smaller skilled players who weren’t able to compete in more physical playoff hockey. They didn’t realize they had enough skill already in their top forward group but needed to add the missing element of a solid bigger backend and deeper, more reliable goaltending. They should have seen this after the Montreal series at the latest but wouldn’t make the necessary changes while believing their core group alone would eventually break through. In essence, they wasted 4-5 years of their star players peak years while refusing to change the obvious. They were not the Leafs worst management group but they may have been the most disappointing.

Disappointing is a great way to put it. The talent they had should have led to way greater success

 

[Jojalu]

Kyle Dumbass was quite easily the worst, simply based on the fact that he inherited the most while achieving the absolute least. Don’t even get me started on all the bad trades, signings and decisions he made. Knies is nice though, but one gem in 5 years? Pathetic.

McCabe is an important piece.

Robertson is good depth.

Overall it's a fail based on playoff results, but still not the worst.

Building a perrenial playoff team is not easy. But neither is building one that can't get out of the first round.

The team that lost to Florida was pretty damn good.

 

[SnizzNasty88]

Please, get started.

0/10 on the history of the GMs so far, would love to see you stumble through how Foligno was the worst trade ever, while Laughton is trending to be worse.

Foligno trade was absolutely horrendous, Malgin for Marchment pathetic, McCann to protect Justin Holl of all people was mind blowingly pathetic, trading for an often injured Murray, trading Trevor Moore, a very effective player for Backup Jack, O’Reilly trade was utterly pointless as we didn’t have even close to a contender, trading Connor Brown for Cody Ceci. I thank God every day this donkey is no longer the GM. If he was, we’d have Samsonov on a long term deal at a $5M AAV right now. Shall I get started on the signings and other terrible decisions?

 

[Martin Skoula]

Precisely Watson !!!

View attachment 1015249

Here are the final standings of top teams in the NHL this year

View attachment 1015232

Here are the top 5 teams Save% on the 2024-25 season.

View attachment 1015230

Who would have thought that the teams with the best NHL season point was would also be connected to the teams that had the best goaltending team performances also?

I guess our GM Treliving certainly understood the value of sound goaltending being the key to success.

The Leafs are no longer built as a one dimensional team to have their success dictated by 4 Core forwards alone outscoring and/or getting out goalie'd. The tables have turned and now we're in the drivers seat.

Weren’t you perpetually whining that it’s impossible to have good goaltending without spending a lot on it?

 

[Donnie740]

Kyle Dumbass was quite easily the worst, simply based on the fact that he inherited the most while achieving the absolute least. Don’t even get me started on all the bad trades, signings and decisions he made. Knies is nice though, but one gem in 5 years? Pathetic.

Agree 100% - - no GM has ever done less with more than Dumbass did in Toronto.

The debacle he’s created in Pittsburgh confirms the incompetence of Dumbass. Look at these horrific contracts:

Ryan Graves - - $4.5 AAV for six years
Tristan Jarry - - $5.375 for five years
Erik Karlsson - - $11.5 for four years

That’s nearly 25% of the salary cap locked up with three useless scrubs. Unbelievable how clueless Dumbass is.

 

[notbias]

Foligno trade was absolutely horrendous, Malgin for Marchment pathetic, McCann to protect Justin Holl of all people was mind blowingly pathetic, trading for an often injured Murray, trading Trevor Moore, a very effective player for Backup Jack, O’Reilly trade was utterly pointless as we didn’t have even close to a contender, trading Connor Brown for Cody Ceci. I thank God every day this donkey is no longer the GM. If he was, we’d have Samsonov on a long term deal at a $5M AAV right now. Shall I get started on the signings and other terrible decisions?

Foligno got injured, not a good trade, but far from the worst.
Malgin for Marchment is bad in hindsight, Florida even sent Marchment to the AHL, they didn't even think he was an NHL player.
Murray didn't work out because of injury.
Holl was a top 4 D at the time, pathtic is your knowledge of the team at the time.
Campbell had good seasons with us, what are you talking about?
We have basically the same team as when we brought on O'Reilly.
Source on signing Samsanov long term?

Also, yes, continue, it is enjoyable so far.