Maple Leafs General Manager Brad Treliving's Long List of Priorities Begins With Auston Matthews
Having reached out to Toronto's star player via text, Treliving says meeting with Auston Matthews and getting to know him is of great importance.
Brad Treliving doesn't have time to waste.
Meeting with the media for the first time in an introductory news conference on Thursday, the newest Toronto Maple Leafs GM outlined a long list of priorities on his desk.
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But the first one is getting to Auston Matthews.
"Outside of the contract stuff is just about building that relationship," Treliving said. "It's not locking down and trying to arm wrestle about contract stuff. It's me getting a chance to meet him and more importantly, Auston getting a chance to meet me and know what we're about."
Matthews is eligible to sign a contract extension with the Maple Leafs on July 1. At the same time, that's the same date that a full no-movement clause goes into effect in Matthews' current contract. The 25-year-old would then hold all the cards between that time and when he'd become an unrestricted free agent on July 1, 2024.
Treliving had already communicated with Matthews via text and touted a strong relationship with Matthews' agent Judd Moldaver.
"He's excellent at what he does," Treliving said of Moldaver.
No doubt Matthews' agent received a lot of credit for what at the time was a precedent-setting contract for Matthews. On Feb. 19, Matthews signed a five-year contract that now carries a salary cap hit of $11,640,250, an increase from the $11,634,000 it was initially signed for. An increase in the minimum salary of the NHL players in a new CBA agreed to in 2020 saw players like Matthews earn a little bit more and marginally increased the cap hit on the Maple Leafs' books.
But the deal saw Matthews earn a really high salary cap hit while only losing one year of free agency.
Will Treliving bend to a similar precedent-setting deal for Matthews this time? It's hard to get a read.
There is a sense that being an elite player in the league will constitute some sort of raise. The salary cap for the upcoming season is still not clear and it may make sense for Matthews' camp to wait things out.
With just one month on the job before July 1, Treliving needs to figure out where the other core players (Mitch Marner, William Nylander and John Tavares) factor in and he has to make a quicker decision on Sheldon Keefe and his fate as head coach of the club.
And while getting to know everyone is good, Treliving also acknowledges the urgency for clarity.
"This is not the dating game. We're going to get to pushing hard here. So there's a lot to get done," Treliving said. "We've got a good staff and experienced staff so I'm going to lean on them. But No. 1. I've got to go out and see Auston. No. 1A is the coach and the clarity and we've got to meet with. By saying one is more important you're downgrading everything but there's a lot to do and the clock is ticking as they say."
The Hart Trophy winner from the 2021-22 season, Matthews experienced a bit of a down year, but in that time still managed to score 40 goals and 45 assists in 74 games.
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