On Friday (May 10), the Toronto Maple Leafs wrapped up the 2023-24 season with a press conference, which was given by Keith Pelley, the newly hired CEO of Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment, Maple Leafs’ president Brendan Shanahan, and general manager (GM) Brad Treliving. Pelley began the news conference by discussing the importance of having “great skill combined with chemistry and unity.”
Later, when answering questions, GM Treliving used the phrase, “Everybody is important” more than once. He clarified that when he said, “We can only have success here if the top of the food chain and number 23 on the list are important. And they are.”
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When asked about the Core Four players’ lack of success and whether there is a need for change, Treliving answered, “I know there is talk of the Core Four (Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, William Nylander, and John Tavares) and all of these names we talk about, but we don’t talk about them internally.”
He added, “I would disagree with the idea that things have never changed here. There has been a lot of change. Obviously, there has been a lot of change around those core players.”
(Photo by Kevin Sousa/NHLI via Getty Images)
Combining these comments makes it seem like the message is less about the Core Four and more about creating team unity and chemistry.
Deconstructing the Messages Put Forth by Maple Leafs Management
Shanahan’s statements had a different tone. He talked more about the accumulative failures over his tenure and the need to improve. At one point, he stated, “We have looked back and had different experiences where, if you were to just live in a vacuum and view this one playoff, you might have a different view of our team, the optimism, and the closeness of where we were. We can’t think that way anymore after seeing what we’ve seen year after year after year.”
Shanahan and Treliving then re-clarified that, regarding potential changes, “Everything is on the table.”
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Doing the count made two of the three key people in Maple Leafs’ leadership stress team unity and chemistry but (also) stating, “Everything is on the table.” The question is, how can the organization do both at the same time?
Treliving Changes the Way Things Worked on the Team
We agree…
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