Brad Treliving is out as general manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs, and the reaction from insiders Friday night wasn't just about what he failed to build.
It was about what he may have left behind.
Insider Nick Alberga, posting Friday on X, wrote that Ben Danford may be a Leaf in October, adding a fire emoji and crediting Treliving directly for the groundwork.
That's a notable parting gift from a GM who presided over one of the worst seasons in recent franchise memory.
Toronto finished 32-36-14, good for 78 points and 28th overall in the league.
The Leafs allowed 299 goals against this season, a goal differential of -46. That number doesn't lie.
The next GM inherits a roster built around $13 million cap hits and a -46 goal differential
The club also lost seven straight games to close out the season. Seven. That's not late-season rust. That's a structural problem that didn't show up in April.
Whether the new front office honors whatever Treliving had in motion with Danford is the real question now.
Front offices change direction. Prospects get re-evaluated. What looked like a priority under one GM doesn't always survive the transition.
Auston Matthews carries a $13,250,000 cap hit on a roster that finished 28th overall. William Nylander, who put up 79 points in 65 games, is at $11,500,000.
Matthews played only 60 games and put up 53 points. For a $13.25 million center, that output accelerated every conversation about what this roster actually is.
That's enormous star-level money on a team giving up 3.6 goals per game.
Joseph Woll posted an .898 save percentage in 39 appearances. The goaltending wasn't the only problem, but it wasn't exactly a wall either.
A 2-7-1 mark in the last 10 games of the season tells you this collapse wasn't sudden. It was a slow bleed.
So now someone else gets handed the keys. The next GM inherits the star contracts, the defensive structure that gave up 299 goals, and an offseason with no obvious quick fix.
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Danford may end up being the most intriguing footnote from Treliving's tenure. But the Leafs need a full rebuild plan, not a footnote.
Was Brad Treliving the right man to turn the Toronto Maple Leafs around?
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