Let the fun begin.
OK, Maple Leafs general manager Brad Treliving didn’t word it quite that way on Tuesday when he met with media at the Ford Performance Centre.
With the Leafs’ 2024-25 regular season kicking off in Montreal against the Canadiens on Wednesday, there was optimism from Treliving as his second season in charge in Toronto gets underway, but, unfortunately, he didn’t make any bold proclamations either.
“I’m like 31 other guys right now,” Treliving said. “Everybody’s undefeated and and we’re excited.
“I thought it was a good camp. I thought it was a hard camp. We were well-organized, there was lots of competition, new coach, new coaching staff.”
You would think that there would be an expressed goal of winning the Atlantic Division, considering the difficulty the Leafs have had in surviving the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs in recent years. Perhaps it has been a topic of discussion behind closed doors at the Leafs facility — and that would match what is being said outside the organization — yet Treliving took a different tack.
“We want to have as good a season as we can,” Treliving said. “I know people are going to roll their eyes. We’re going to worry about today.
“We talked to our group this morning, and the message was that I like our group. We’ve got to build an identity for our group, but we’re going to just worry about today.
“If you keep stacking good days, you’ll end up where you want to end up. Certainly, you want to strive to finish as high as you can. We’re in a real good division loaded with good teams.”
After Leafs president Brendan Shanahan said in May that “everything is on the table,” Treliving didn’t go about changing the core of the team. The nucleus of captain Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, William Nylander, John Tavares and Morgan Rielly is back for yet another crack.
The expectations are high for the entire group, though greater scrutiny will be on Marner as he plays in the final year of his contract, with free agency looming next summer.
“Like I’ve said, he’s a star,” Treliving said. “He has had a great summer. He’s prepared. Like anything in life, when you prepare, that allows your ability to take over. And I think that’s what Mitch is.
“I couldn’t be more pleased with him during camp. He has a lot of juice to him. He brings energy to our group and his on-ice play speaks for itself.”
There’s a new coach in Craig Berube and Treliving was able to put some substance behind the changing philosophy in Toronto with the additions of defencemen Chris Tanev, Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Jani Hakanpaa. It’s a blue-line corps that has more potential to have an impact on a nightly basis.
Treliving had a quiet offseason regarding additions to the Leafs’ forward group, but that changed this week when Max Pacioretty and Steven Lorentz were signed after each attended camp on a professional tryout.
“I think it’s early to say you’ve checked boxes, we haven’t played yet,” Treliving said. “One of them was, certainly, we wanted to try to upgrade our blue line. I think we’ve done that. Getting Chris here, getting Oliver here, getting Jani … then the depth we have, it’s different. I think it’s an improved blue line, but we’ll see. We have to get into games now.”
What does Treliving like specifically about a big blue line?
“You have to be careful,” Treliving said. “You’re not just chasing size for size. But the reality is, that length, it’s hard to get around.
“They take away space, the game is still won at both net fronts. The ability to keep that area clean and be able to kill plays and have that long stick and reach, that makes it difficult for opponents to create offence.”
Anthony Stolarz, the club is thinking, will help provide a sharp tandem in goal with Joseph Woll.
How they stack up against the goalies in the division — Sergei Bobrovsky in Florida, Jeremy Swayman in Boston, Andrei Vasilevskiy in Tampa Bay — will be crucial in helping to determine where the Leafs finish.
“I got all the confidence in (Woll and Stolarz),” Treliving said. “They may not have the name recognition at this point, but I think they’re both really good goalies.”
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