Treliving didn't reveal names, but reports suggest that Toronto spoke with Gerard Gallant, Todd McLellan, and Craig Berube, among others.
Treliving didn't reveal names, but reports suggest that Toronto spoke with Gerard Gallant, Todd McLellan, and Craig Berube, among others.
There were only eight days between the Toronto Maple Leafs parting ways with Sheldon Keefe and announcing the hiring of Craig Berube as head coach, but Brad Treliving did his due diligence.
During the team's media availability on Tuesday morning, where they unveiled Berube as the Maple Leafs' 32nd coach in franchise history, Treliving opened up about the process that led to their new bench boss.
"In our year-end press conference, I said at that time that the top priority was to find the next coach and the new head coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs. Really, from that day forward, that's really what I've immersed myself into, and it's been sort of a nonstop process over that time," Treliving said on Tuesday.
"First step was really to identify a profile before we started to get out into the field and meet and talk with candidates. It was really to build a profile of the individual that we felt was going to come in and be the best fit."
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cr19mfpdiAQ[/embed]
It was reported that the Maple Leafs had spoken with former Los Angeles Kings head coach Todd McLellan, former New York Rangers head coach Gerard Gallant, and Berube, who got the job.
However, on Tuesday, Treliving revealed that it wasn't just those three he spoke with about the position.
"I met and talked with several individuals. I'm not going to necessarily get into names and whatnot, but I think it was upwards of nine individuals that I met with or spoke with," the Maple Leafs' GM said.
"And obviously, during that time, I had a chance to speak and meet with Craig, and [I] spent a lot of time with Craig. And as I went through the process with other individuals, it kept coming back to Craig."
Berube is known for holding his players accountable. It's a trait of his that's well-known throughout the league and arguably one of the many driving forces that led his St. Louis Blues team to a Stanley Cup in 2019.
That, among other traits, is why Berube was sat inside Ford Performance Center on Tuesday speaking to the media alongside Treliving and Maple Leafs president Brendan Shanahan. And then, also posing for a photo with the group, plus MLSE CEO Keith Pelley.
"The homework you do with people that worked with, worked for, and played for Craig — you have players, to me, talked about how they'd go through a wall for him," Treliving said. "Ultimately, character matters. Character matters. It matters with your team, and it matters most importantly with your head coach.
"I look at Craig, and ultimately what brought me back to him was his leadership, his ability to build teams and have a team-first concept, his ability to connect with players, and his ability to hold people accountable."
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