‘We're A Better Team With Them On Our Team This Year’: Why President Brendan Shanahan Stuck with the Maple Leafs’ Core and General Manager Brad Treliving Believes This Season Will be Different
Despite declaring that “everything is on the table” after the 2023-24 season, the ‘Core Four’ remains intact for the 2024-25 season.
At the conclusion of the 2023-24 season, Toronto Maple Leafs President Brendan Shanahan hinted that sweeping changes could be coming to the team’s core. His comments about “everything being on the table” led to speculation that the Leafs’ ‘Core Four’ – Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, William Nylander, and John Tavares – might be split up. Yet, as the 2024-25 season soon gets underway, that core remains intact.
Reflecting on the decision during Wednesday’s media availability, Shanahan explained that while management weighed all options, the best course of action was to maintain the core of the team while making changes in other areas.
“I think that we had a busy off-season… several changes to our coaching staff and roster,” Shanahan said. “We come back this year with the same goal that we've had for the last several years and the determination to get to where we want to be. Like several clubs that have the privilege of competing in this league, our goal is to win the Stanley Cup. And that's where our focus is, that's what's most important to us.”
“As you evaluate your options and as you evaluate all those different areas where you can make improvements, we feel that we have made several key improvements. We felt that this, the answer to those questions for each of those individual players was we're a better team with them on our team this year,” Shanahan explained.
General Manager Brad Treliving, who joined the Leafs in the summer of 2023, reiterated these thoughts. He pointed to improvements on the blueline and in goal while highlighting the importance of internal growth from younger players. To be more specific, Treliving emphasized a balanced approach to roster building and a focus on a day-by-day approach as reasons for optimism heading into the 2024-25 season.
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“I think we've improved our roster. You don't hit grand slams every day,” said Treliving. “Sometimes you just got to keep hitting singles and doubles and picking away at your roster. And I look at it not, getting better isn't because you airlifted a bunch of people. I look at it, internal growth is the best way to get better in this league. It's not just flying in the great free agent or making 10 trades.”
Treliving also acknowledged the team's offensive outlook in the wake of Tyler Bertuzzi’s departure to the Chicago Blackhawks.
“If we look at our team last year, I think we were second in goals for. We lost 21 goals (with the departure of) Tyler Bertuzzi. I look at our roster right now, I think there's going to be some competition. I think we can replace those goals, not just necessarily by one person. I think we're going to have competition there.”
On the defensive end, in addition to a belief the team got stronger on the back end, Treliving expressed confidence about the goaltending depth, particularly with the continued and anticipated growth of Joseph Woll along with the additions of free agency signing Anthony Stolarz and re-signing of Matt Murray.
And while the Stanley Cup playoffs remain a distant goal, the GM stressed the importance of special teams needing to improve, especially down the stretch – when it matters. If you can recall, last season the Leafs were seventh in the NHL in the regular season, converting at a rate of 24% before a dry spout in the postseason that saw the club go an abysmal 1-for-21 (4.8%) through seven games against the Boston Bruins. Now-former Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe even had to address the media saying the team wasn’t going to decline the power play, but rather trust their system.
“I think seeing Joe Woll take another step, having Anthony Stolarz here, and having Matt Murray compete in that – I think that can help us be a better team in goal. Those are the things that, when I look at our team, it's picking up pieces of what we've got to do.”
“We've got to get to the playoffs, we've got to find a way to be better in the power play in the playoffs. We've got to keep it under our neck more than we did last year.”
Success this season won’t seem to come from a total overhaul but instead from targeted, select improvements, the hopes of internal development, and learning from past failures. As the club prepares for the 2024-25 season, the focus will be on building consistency. With major adjustments on defense, competition in the net, and allocated attention to special teams, the Leafs are banking on the ‘Core Four’ stepping up and younger talent helping to rise to the occasion.
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