Maple Leafs GM Brad Treliving didn't mince words in speaking about his team's "inconsistency" through the first 19 games of the regular season.
Maple Leafs GM Brad Treliving didn't mince words in speaking about his team's "inconsistency" through the first 19 games of the regular season.
Brad Treliving knew he was inheriting a talented team.
But the Toronto Maple Leafs GM didn't shy away from the reality of his team's performance through the first 19 games of the season.
"To me, we've been hit and miss," Treliving said following his club's practice on Monday. "There's been some inconsistency in our game, which is a little concerning. It’s an area we’d like to clean up and improve upon."
Having just gotten through the U.S. Thanksgiving long weekend, the Maple Leafs are 10-6-3 and have just five wins in regulation this season. They're also dealing with a more competitive balance in the Atlantic Division. With the Boston Bruins clearly ahead of everyone else with a 14-3-3 record and 31 points, Six teams (including the Leafs) are separated by just five points.
There have been issues galore. Top-line players Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner haven't generated as much offensively, prompting head coach Sheldon Keefe to split them up for the foreseeable future. Defensively, the Leafs have looked disjointed and the goaltending tandem of Ilya Samsonov and Joseph Woll has also struggled at times.
"I think the one encouraging sign when you look at the data and you look at our defensive play and what we’re giving up has gotten better," Treliving said. "It needs to continue to get better. But overall there’s still gaps in our consistency of how we’ve played and that would be my overwhelming belief is that we’ve got to be more consistent as a group."
The Maple Leafs have linked to trade talks about adding a defenseman. Treliving admitted he's always engaged in conversations that would improve his club, but realizes he isn't necessarily dealing at a position of strength.
"The idea that you’re just going to trade yourself out of issues just isn’t realistic," Treliving said. "Coming in we did some things over the course of the summer. Some have gone well, some are a work in progress, some haven’t gone as well."
Signed on May 31 to become the team's general manager, Treliving added John Klingberg, signing the defenseman to a one-year, $4.15 million contract. The defenseman has struggled after an injury that took place on the team's first road trip limited the player to just five assists this season.
Other signing like Ryan Reaves, have also fallen flat. Signed to a three-year, $4.05 million deal this season, Reaves was a healthy scratch for four of the last five games. He did, however, score his first of the season in the lone game played, a 4-3 overtime loss to the Chicago Blackhawks.
Outside of Toronto's top players scoring, the defense and goaltending have been the club's top two issues this season, and it's one that needs better correlation.
"It’s been better. We’ve been tighter and that makes the goalie’s job a lot easier," Treliving said. I’d put them (goalies) in the category of the rest of the group where we could use more consistent play."
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