Are Brad Treliving and Craig Berube becoming the Toronto Maple Leafs' biggest problem?
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The Toronto Maple Leafs struggles have many fans asking the question if changes need to come from the leadership rather than the team.
The Leafs sit with a 8-9-2 record, with GM Brad Treliving speaking today to assure fans that he's understanding that things need to change with Toronto's play, but defended head coach Craig Berube.
Treliving said the team was playing "too vanilla" and needed to improve as a unit, but the team not performing is the one Treliving put together, and the one struggling to win.
Why Brad Treliving's roster bets aren't matching the story he sold
The big moves that were supposed to help the Toronto Maple Leafs instead seem to have created a bigger hole that has done more damage than good.
Brad Treliving moved out the Leafs futures for a win-now mentality, bringing in Scott Laughton and Brandon Carlo in trades and giving away two top prospects in Fraser Minten and Nikita Grebenkin, and their next two first round draft picks.
Laughton, meant to bring some scoring help to the bottom-six, has struggled to find his offense in Toronto with just four points in 22 games as a Leaf.
Carlo, acquired from Boston as physical help on the right side, is currently out due to injury and has struggled defensively with Toronto.
Meanwhile, Fraser Minten is doing what was hoped Laughton could do with six points in 21 games for the Atlantic leading Bruins, showcasing at 21-years-old real potential as a bottom-six forward.
In order to alleviate what was Laughton's struggles to produce with Toronto, and the opportunity to replace the outgoing Mitch Marner, Brad Treliving made bargain moves in acquiring for the top-six Matias Maccelli, and for the bottom-six Dakota Joshua and Nicolas Roy.
Roy, who is currently injured, has just four points in 19 games, with Joshua having five points in 19 games. Maccelli has eight points in 18 games, but has featured in and out of the Leafs top-six.
Brad Treliving attempted to fix his team's depth issues to little avail, and the fixes to those fixes haven't solved things either, leaving the Leafs with serious answers as to what exactly the right solution is, and why they haven't nailed it yet.
What Craig Berube's results really say about this «new identity"
The Toronto Maple Leafs haven't consistently shown that they can buy into the style of play that comes with Craig Berube hockey, and is a question if it's an ask if it's an indictment on Berube or the team, or both.
As Brad Treliving said in the Leafs presser, Craig Berube has not suddenly become a bad coach, but it is possible Berube has become an incompatible coach with what the roster needs.
For a roster that needed to be stronger and more physically engaging, that execution hasn't been realized, with much of the Leafs faults coming on the defensive end.
The question now becomes if management feels that the problem with the Leafs is that the team isn't playing the right style, or if Berube isn't getting the most out of them.
As Brad Treliving feels, most of the issues lie more on the team being too plain, but if he's wrong, higher-ups may feel the need to step in.
How long MLSE can wait before making a real change
If the Toronto Maple Leafs don't show improvements in the weeks ahead, it could be Brad Treliving and Craig Berube at risk if MLSE is the one who makes the first move.
Having largely given Treliving the reins in constructing the team, it may become an issue from MLSE over Treliving's job safety if the Leafs aren't a winning team soon.
MLSE may not wait until the Leafs are fully out of the playoffs to let go of Treliving, if they appear to be slipping away from contention, the brass could be quick to add if Treliving doesn't first.
Whether through a trade or getting a better product on the ice, the job safety of Treliving and Berube is a lot on a rope than the players if things aren't able to get better in the coming weeks.
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