The Treliving Fallout: 5 Maple Leafs Front Office Members Most Likely To Be Fired Next
The Brad Treliving era in Toronto is officially over, and Leafs Nation is still reeling from the fallout. With MLSE CEO Keith Pelley taking the reins and openly hunting for a "data-centric" head of hockey operations, the winds of change are howling through the halls of Scotiabank Arena, where no one currently feels safe.
Taking a hatchet to the top of the food chain is rarely where the bloodshed stops. An incoming management group is going to want their own people in the room, meaning the executives closest to the previous regimes are squarely on the chopping block. While head coach Craig Berube is safe for now, given that it has been reported that the next Hockey Ops boss will evaluate the coach, the front office won't be afforded the same luxury.
With continued reports that the Leafs brass will look to remove the stench of the Treliving Era from the management group, here are the five members of the Toronto Maple Leafs front office most likely to be terminated before the puck drops next season.
Shane Doan – Special Advisor to the GM
The Profile: Shane Doan was one of Treliving's first and most high-profile hires when he took the gig back in 2023. The two built a rock-solid relationship navigating the desert together with the Arizona Coyotes, and Doan was brought into Toronto to be a sounding board and trusted confidant for the GM. He's widely respected around the NHL as a "hockey guy's hockey guy," but in a front office pivot that is heavily emphasizing analytics and a data-driven approach, Doan’s old-school influence suddenly feels out of place. When the guy who brought you in gets escorted out the door, your key card usually stops working shortly after.
Source: Shane Doan @ Elite Prospects
Derek Clancey – Assistant General Manager, Player Personnel
The Profile: If Doan was Treliving’s right-hand man, Clancey was his lead scout in the trenches. Hired early in the Treliving tenure to revamp the pro and amateur scouting departments, Clancey was relied upon to identify the "snot, grit, and sandpaper" players the former GM craved. Unfortunately, the results on the ice simply didn't match the vision. With a new regime coming in, one that will likely prioritize skill, speed, and underlying metrics over raw intangibles, Clancey’s philosophy makes him a prime candidate to be replaced by a more analytically inclined executive.
Source: Derek Clancey @ Elite Prospects
Mark Leach – Director of Amateur Scouting
The Profile: This one might sting just because of the timing, but hockey is a ruthless business. Leach was lured away from the Dallas Stars organization just last summer to replace the Pittsburgh-bound Wes Clark. Treliving brought Leach in to restock a barren prospect cupboard, leaning on his pedigree of drafting gems in the later rounds. The problem? Leach is unequivocally a Treliving guy. New general managers notoriously want their own talent evaluators running the draft floor. It wouldn't be a shock to see the new hockey ops boss wipe the scouting slate entirely clean to ensure total alignment with their own draft philosophy.
Source: Mark Leach @ Elite Prospects
Darryl Metcalf – Assistant General Manager, Hockey Research and Development
The Profile: When Keith Pelley took the podium to address the media, one underlying theme became crystal clear: MLSE’s massive financial and analytical resources simply haven't been utilized properly. The Maple Leafs boast one of the largest hockey research and development departments in the NHL, yet the on-ice product has continually looked analytically flawed when it matters most. Metcalf has headed up this department since the early days of the Dubas era, surviving through the Treliving reign. But if Pelley’s "data-centric" vision means tearing the structural process down to the studs to figure out why the numbers aren't translating to playoff success, Metcalf could easily find himself out of a job. A new, progressive Hockey Ops boss will almost certainly want their own lead quant steering the organization's analytical models.
Source: Darryl Metcalf @ Elite Prospects
Dr. Hayley Wickenheiser – Assistant General Manager, Player Development
The Profile: Dr. Hayley Wickenheiser is hockey royalty, and her resume in the sport is untouchable. But the harsh reality of her tenure leading the Maple Leafs' player development department is that internal growth has severely stagnated. Toronto has struggled mightily to turn draft picks into impactful, cost-controlled NHL contributors, a fatal flaw in a salary-cap system where you're paying a core group top dollar. The pipeline to the big club has been a trickle rather than a flow. With the organization desperate for cheap, homegrown talent to balance the books, the new regime is going to look long and hard at the development staff. A lack of tangible internal progress makes Wickenheiser a prime target for a structural shakeup as the incoming front office aims to revamp how Toronto grooms its prospects.
Source: Hayley Wickenheiser @ Elite Prospects
Honorable Mentions
Dave Morrison (Senior Advisor, Player Personnel): A staple in the organization for two decades who has survived multiple GM regimes. However, a total organizational reset might finally require moving on from the old guard to embrace a fresh perspective.
Reid Mitchell (Director, Hockey and Scouting Operations): Another long-tenured executive who has had a hand in the scouting department's operations for years. If a new GM wants to completely overhaul the scouting philosophy, Mitchell could be caught in the crossfire.
Brandon Pridham (Assistant General Manager): He's currently keeping the seat warm as an interim co-GM and his brilliant grasp of the CBA is undisputed, but he has been intrinsically tied to the core failures of two different regimes. A new permanent GM may eventually want a fresh set of eyes managing the books once the dust settles.
The Bottom Line for the Maple Leafs
At the end of the day, sweeping out the boardroom only matters if it translates to a fundamentally different product on the ice. Keith Pelley can install all the "data-centric" wizards he wants, but if the new braintrust arrives and merely runs it back with the same fatally flawed roster construction, firing these executives is nothing more than expensive deck-chair rearranging. The real question isn't just who in the front office gets the axe next, but whether the incoming regime will finally have the sheer audacity to do what their predecessors couldn't: break up the core. What do you think, Leafs Nation? Who should be the first executive shown the door, and does any of this front-office bloodletting actually matter if the on-ice personnel stays the same? Sound off in the comments below.