Brad Treliving Reveals Reasoning Behind Keeping 'Core Four' Together
When the Leafs lost to the Florida Panthers in the second round last season many fans were calling for a big overhaul in Toronto. Some fans wanted to shake up the 'core four' by trading one of them.
When former GM Kyle Dubas spoke to the media following the second round exit, it sounded like this might actually be what he had in mind. Shortly after that, Dubas was promptly fired and subsequently replaced by Brad Treliving.
By the time Treliving was brought on, president of hockey operations Brendan Shanahan had already stated that the team fully intended to bring all four members of the core back for at least one more season. Of the four players, John Tavares and Mitch Marner both have contracts expiring at the end of the 2024-25 season, so they were unlikely to ever be in serious trade discussions. However, both Matthews and Nylander were due new contracts at the end of the 2023-24 season, making them much easier to trade.
Treliving Re-signs Matthews, Working With Nylander
Treliving made it clear that re-signing Matthews was their number one priority as soon as he took the job. He immediately executed his plan, signing the superstar to a four year contract extension with an average annual value of 13.25 million dollars. As of September 26th, contract negotiations with Nylander are still ongoing.
In a recent discussion with The Athletic's Jonas Siegel, Treliving commented on the core four and what he had planned.
While vocal Leafs fans shouted their opinions from the rooftops of Toronto, Treliving kept calm and stuck to his plan. He held individual meetings with each of the core four players as well as other team personnel in an effort to communicate his vision for the team. He also brought in players like Tyler Bertuzzi and Max Domi to add more depth scoring.
| POLL | ||
27 SEPTEMBRE | 47 ANSWERS Brad Treliving Reveals Reasoning Behind Keeping 'Core Four' Together Should the Leafs trade one of the 'core four'? | ||
| Yes, Nylander | 19 | 40.4 % |
| Yes, Tavares | 8 | 17 % |
| Yes, Marner | 5 | 10.6 % |
| No | 15 | 31.9 % |
| LIST OF POLLS | ||
