Insider: Maple Leafs Nearly Gave Treliving Extension Last Month

Former Toronto Maple Leafs GM Brad Treliving

So why did the Toronto Maple Leafs allow a lame-duck general manager to conduct their all-important trade deadline? That's one of the big questions people around Leaf Land are asking today.

The answer: The Leafs almost gave him an extension last month!

Insider Darren Dreger explains on TSN Early Trading:

At one point during the Olympic Break, according to sources, Treliving and (CEO) Keith Pelley actually talked initially about conversations around a Brad Treliving EXTENSION as general manager with the Maple Leafs.
I think (the change in direction is) just based on the fact that the season just continued to unravel and got worse coming out of the Olympics, and clearly, Keith Pelley and ownership decided that they needed to go in a different direction.

Treliving was fired Monday night.

MLSE CEO Keith Pelley said '"We made that decision over the past couple of weeks through dialogue with ownership. Once you make a decision, you get ahead of it now, you get an extra 15 days and it's such an important search."

But does that different direction with a new hockey boss include a long-term "rebuild" or a much quicker "retool"?

While there's no one in place yet to head up the hockey operations, MLSE CEO Keith Pelley said on Tuesday that he doesn't see the Maple Leafs as "a team that needs to start from scratch," but rather a team with "foundational pieces" like Auston Matthews and William Nylander, that's more in need of a quick turnaround to get back into the playoffs as soon as possible. i.e. A "retool."

According to Dreger, he feels the organization's hope for this would be as early as next season.

"I think that would align with the ownership of the Toronto Maple Leafs... We know that the tens of millions of dollars that MLSE makes when the Leafs are a playoff team—that's tough to move away from.

"If there's a different vision with the hiring of a new GM or President of Hockey Operations (i.e. a full rebuild), that might be a tough sell for Auston Matthews."