Brad Treliving Avoids Disastrous Free Agent Signing for the Maple Leafs

Brad Treliving should be commended for the signings he made during the offseason. Adding Anthony Stolarz, Chris Tanev, Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Max Pacioretty and Steven Lorentz has transformed the team into a solid contender for an Eastern Conference Championship.

But he also needs to be commended for the things he didn't do. With a lot of questions surrounding John Tavares' ability this season, there was a lot of talk about signing forward Chandler Stephenson as the next second-line center.

Whether it's pressure coming into a new team, or trying to play up to contractual expectations, Stephenson has been pretty bad for Seattle this season.

It looks like Toronto avoided a complete meltdown both on and off the ice, as it's clear Stephenson was overpaid in the summer. While he does have 23 points this season, he's fallen off a cliff in nearly every metric.

He doesn't help on the powerplay, he doesn't do anything on the penalty kill, and given his production this year is worth only 1% WAR (wins above replacement) going from one of one of the most consistent bottom-six contributors to someone who barely makes an impact.

The fact he was paid $6.25M for the next seven years is egregious looking at it, and if he doesn't pay up he may go the way of Pierre Engvall and go through waivers, and be potentially on the way out as quick as he came in.

Once a standout with Vegas, he doesn't offer the same offensive or defensive capabilities and for a middling Kraken team sitting near the bottom of the Pacific Division; that's not good enough.

For what it's worth, Tavares has come out this season and shown he looks 10 years younger, registering 17 goals and 17 assists in 34 games; being a point-per-game producer compared to Stephenson's 0.65 PPG and rewarded Leafs fans for their belief in him to still be their leader even without the C.

Brad Treliving and Toronto avoided disaster with Chandler Stephenson. They made the smart move by adding goaltending and defense and decided the risk of signing Stephenson wasn't worth the potential reward.