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Toronto Maple Leafs GM Brad Treliving admitted at his introductory press conference that he has a lot on his plate over the next four weeks before the onset of free agency, and that at the top of the list is establishing a relationship with Auston Matthews and making a determination about whether to keep Sheldon Keefe on as head coach, but part of the equation of how difficult a task he will have will be how much of the organization chooses to stay.
Connected to the Leafs situation of course was the announcement that Kyle Dubas will be heading up the Pittsburgh Penguins as their President of Hockey Operations. His title and the fact that Dubas will be acting as the GM on an interim basis until some management contracts expire at the end of June hints that he will be looking to his former staff to fill the spot as Penguins GM.
The structure in Pittsburgh appears similar in nature as those in Montreal and Vancouver with Jeff Gorton and Jim Rutherford running hockey operations as President and Kent Hughes and Patrik Allvin as first-time GMs. It is hard to imagine that Dubas will just be an overseer and will be heavily involved in the day-to-day machinations of the club, which means that his hire as GM could be someone with limited experience.
There have been some hints that Jason Spezza could be in the mix, but that seems unlikely just one year after retiring as a player. Leafs asst. GM Brandon Pridham has been mentioned, but there are reports that he is under contract for multiple years and that the organization wants to keep him. If he is offered a higher position and a boost in pay from another club, then all bets are off. Other names such as Asst. GM Ryan Hardy, Hayley Wickenheiser, of Director Of Scouting Wes Clark are also possibilities.
"I've known Brandon Pridham a long time. I thought we had mailed them a check when I was in Arizona.… Treliving said. “In my mind, (he is) one of the very best if not the best at what he does in the league. When you come into a job, it's really important. It's easy to sit up here and say 'we got all these problems', but I'm the beneficiary of the people that came before me. Kyle Dubas is a very close friend. We have a very good relationship. I think he's extremely smart. I think he's talented at what he does. And like I said, of the manager group. He's a close confidant. He's left me some really good pieces on the ice and off the ice."
Treliving deftly dodged whether he would be bringing in someone as an assistant. Most if not all of his staff in Calgary stayed with the Flames under new GM Craig Conroy, but just as Dubas could pilfer members of the Leafs organization, Treliving could bring over people from Calgary down the line.
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