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Brad Treliving faces the media as pressure mounts in Toronto and discusses what's next
Photo credit: Toronto Maple Leafs
Toronto Maple Leafs GM Brad Treliving spoke to the media on Tuesday after firing Marc Savard, and explained that it wasn't the easiest decision for him to make.
On Tuesday afternoon, Maple Leafs GM Brad Treliving decided to face the press less than 24 hours after firing assistant coach Marc Savard. It was desperately needed as Savard couldn't improve Toronto's dead-last power play and the team had no real choice.
No doubt under a lot of pressure himself, Treliving wanted to clear the air regarding Savard's firing, and what the team intends to do going forward.
Brad Treliving addresses Marc Savard firing
First, he admitted that there was change needed but also stopped short of fully blaming Savard for the power play failures:
Never fun decisions to make or fun days ... Not putting blame solely on Marc Savard's feet. We need to be better in that (PP) area. It falls on all of us.
Treliving also threw his support behind Craig Berube, and explained there was no intentions of moving on from the coach:
I want to make it clear. I support Craig fully.
Then attention shifted to who would lead the Maple Leafs power play after all is said and done, with Treliving explaining that assistant coach Derek Lalonde is going to be running things for the time being:
It may not be long though, as the team intends to look for other options after the holiday break according to Chris Johnston.
Can Derek Lalonde help Toronto's power play?
Right now, the team needs to focus on their game against Pittsburgh in a few short hours. With a crucial game right before the holiday break, Lalonde is going to have a lot of work to do quickly if he wants to stay running the power play.
It's going to be a small sample size for sure, as one game is not going to make or break things (or it shouldn't at least), but it will be interesting to see how Lalonde utilizes the pieces he has.
He's no stranger to running things either, as he was instrumental in helping Tampa Bay during their heyday in the late 2010's. If he can bring the best out of the stars right now as he did back then, he would be a miracle worker.
So it doesn't look like there are going to be many changes for the Maple Leafs, at least not right away, and it'll be up to Lalonde now to see if he can salvage anything out of the man advantage or if it's too little, too late.