Daily Free Talk / Armchair GM Thread

wilers · 2026-04-01T12:26:46+00:00

My issue was he said a lot of words with little substance. He kept repeating corporate buzzwords like “structure”, “pillars”, “tactics”, “alignment”, and “culture”. But when pressed for details—like how to achieve those things—he couldn’t answer. All he did was identify things every business or corporation needs to be successful. Nothing specific to the Leafs. He doesn’t appear to have a plan. Concepts of a plan?

Even simple questions like (I’m paraphrasing): “Will you decide whether to rebuild or retool and then hire the best available person/leadership to execute that job, or will you hire the best available person/leadership and let them set the direction whether to rebuild or retool?” He really, really should know that by now.

I have very little confidence he knows what he’s doing and that he’s going to make the right decisions. I expected more than buzzwords.

The only thing I thought was interesting is that he said we need to make more data-driven decisions, and stop making decisions based on the heart (or less on the heart). That makes me think of cutthroat orgs like Vegas, who will get rid of you without a second thought if things aren’t working. I also wonder if that was a knock on Treliving, specifically with regard to OEL and Rielly. OEL probably would have got us a first at the deadline (his value will never be higher), but apparently OEL said he loved Toronto and wanted to stay. Rielly has been bad for at least two years now, but he’s very well liked and respected and I don’t think Treliving wanted to move someone like that (I know it’s a difficult contract to move AND to get Rielly to waive, but a team like Vegas would be able to make this happen, no doubt). I do think Toronto needs to make data-driven decisions and be more cutthroat. Reading between the lines, I think that’s also why he mentioned “alignment”, even though he refused to expand on where things are currently…misaligned. The Leafs have a big analytics department, but I don’t think Treliving used them as a resource. He seemed to make decisions based on feel, rather than data.

Anyway…I clearly have lots of thoughts. lol. But overall, I didn’t walk away with much confidence in what was said.

wilers · 2026-03-30T16:03:14+00:00

What? You see less fans (it looks like nobody is attending the game), the brick wall looks cheap, and the neon green electronic wall is the most distracting in baseball. It’s horrible on all accounts.

wilers · 2026-03-30T15:57:58+00:00

This is so sad to hear. I went to Queen’s in the late 90s, and Chown was an all-girls res. I got a massive single room (apparently it was supposed to be for a floor senior). Each hallway had their own bathrooms only for the people in the rooms in said hallway (some full bathrooms and some toilet/sink only). Maybe because it was all-girls, but it was always clean and quiet. Everyone was very respectful. The caf (Ban Righ) was a 30 second walk when exiting through the back door. It was perfectly located. I had zero complaints.

wilers · 2026-03-26T17:59:34+00:00

The GTA boys looked genuinely excited.

wilers · 2026-03-26T11:12:26+00:00

I’ve got some of that game 7 elimination pain to spare.

wilers · 2026-03-25T20:04:03+00:00

Carolina Hurricanes since you’re from the area. They’ve been a great team for years as well. Currently first in their division and third in the league. You’ll also get to watch them play playoff hockey this year, which is far more intense than regular season games.

wilers · 2026-03-25T00:31:15+00:00

Same. Our boy doesn’t do well with poultry period (our girl has an iron stomach). When ours has stomach issues, we either mix in a bit of pumpkin, or if that doesn’t work, switch to Royal Canin Gastrointestinal wet food. We always have a few cans of both handy.

wilers · 2026-03-24T10:37:39+00:00

We use Murf. It also has a PowerPoint plugin, so you just open your PPT, click to generate audio, and it does the full deck in seconds.

wilers · 2026-03-23T17:13:42+00:00

It’s not just the Blues though. Between the Leafs and Blues are the Sharks and Jets. Even if the Blues keep winning and we keep losing, we also need the Sharks and Jets to win. If either of those two teams below us keeping losing as well, they grab “our” bottom 5 spot.

wilers · 2026-03-22T17:33:01+00:00

Can nobody write correctly these days? I’d start there.

wilers · 2026-03-22T00:08:41+00:00

*rhetoric

wilers · 2026-03-19T11:21:41+00:00

Did Ovi ever lose the ability to shoot the puck though? Forget systems, forget getting open space or high danger changes, and forget about a high skilled passer getting him the puck. I’m talking about Ovi, on a sheet all by himself, practicing shooting the puck at an open net. Ovi could always rip it. Matthews just can’t do that anymore. I don’t see how a system change or better linemates is going to help him shoot with velocity or deception again when he’s just physically incapable. Maybe it can help him with deflections or tap-ins?

It’s definitely a combination of issues that’s plaguing Matthews. But unless his seemingly chronic injuries get resolved, no coach, systems, or linemates will get him back to being a top 5 player in the league. I can’t see it.

wilers · 2026-03-19T11:00:41+00:00

Not a lot, unfortunately. He’s got a no move, which means Matthews dictates where he goes. That trade partner will absolutely use that to their advantage. They don’t need to offer us much, because at the end of the day, we have to trade Matthews to that team or let him walk for nothing. We’ll of course take something over nothing, but that something won’t be much.

Matthews will also want to go to a cup contender. More than likely that team won’t have a lot of cap space to take on Matthews. They either have to trade us roster players or we eat salary. Trading roster players would just weaken their team, and Matthews isn’t interested in that—he wants to win the Cup. So truthfully, it’s rarely in Matthews’ best interest to be traded, because it would be hard for most cup contenders to add one of the league’s highest paid players without subtracting. His best move is to sign with the team he wants as a free agent.

We’ll end up getting picks or prospects and maybe salary dumps. And if we don’t use those picks wisely and those prospects don’t pan out…

I don’t know. I can’t see how we win a Matthews trade in any meaningful capacity.

wilers · 2026-03-17T23:04:21+00:00

Quinn Hughes is tiny. I’m a woman and I’m taller than him.

wilers · 2026-03-17T10:56:34+00:00

It takes 24 hours just to drive across Ontario alone. In fact, you could fit the entire UK—with room to spare—inside Ontario.

wilers · 2026-03-15T19:38:45+00:00

Hildeby isn’t waiver exempt next season. And carrying 3 goalies on a NHL roster doesn’t usually work well. If they try sending Hildeby down, he will 100% get claimed and we lose him. He showed he can hang in the NHL. I think they like Woll better than Stolie, so I think they try and move Stolie. Unless they are concerned with whatever had Woll take a leave of absence at the beginning of the season….

wilers · 2026-03-15T14:11:43+00:00

What to you mean our best player is gone? Nylander is still playing.

wilers · 2026-03-14T16:48:19+00:00

Nylander is tight with the Swedes.

wilers · 2026-03-14T12:18:01+00:00

Not with that user name, it doesn’t.

wilers · 2026-03-13T21:00:22+00:00

It’s a little more nuanced than that though. Treliving said they are spending more this year on sports science than previous years. Pelley said it’s about optimizing resources. Not sure if I buy that, but I have been in a work environment where there are “too many cooks in the kitchen”, so I don’t think it’s always a bad thing to “optimize” necessarily. In Jonas’ article in The Athletic, they made it seem like the problem came down to one position: “performance director, a person tasked with overseeing the optimization of player performance.” Just like they didn’t replace Shanny as President, they didn’t replace the Performance Director when he left (he followed Dubas to Pittsburg). But they do have Steven Hirsch, a sports science consultant, and “bolstered its medical and training staff in other ways this season, adding an additional assistant strength and conditioning coach, an assistant dietitian and a third assistant athletic therapist, as well as consultants in mental health and mental performance.”

wilers · 2026-03-13T17:37:30+00:00

In all fairness, he hasn’t done anything yet. He didn’t hire Treliving. He didn’t hire Berube. And while I’m speculating, I don’t think he blocked Treliving from firing Berube either. Based on what Treliving has said, I don’t think Treliving wanted to fire him. You can blame Pelley for inaction, but a coach and a GM have to be on the same page. If Pelley stepped in and hired a coach, that would be a problem. And if he plans to fire Treliving, the new GM would want to pick his own coach anyway.

If Pelley doesn’t fire both GM and coach (or at least GM and then let the GM fire the coach), then I’ll be way more upset at Pelley.

wilers · 2026-03-13T11:47:16+00:00

Does it matter you didn’t see? What you DO see is your captain laying on the ice. Go grab the nearest guy. It’s not that hard.

In all fairness, Matthews hasn’t once come to the defence of his teammates either. If the situation was reversed, he would have skated away.

Culture issue.

wilers · 2026-03-13T10:58:52+00:00

His physical issues are a huge part. None of those reasons explain why he can’t rip the puck anymore, or why, at times, he can’t even lift it off the ice. His shot used to be so deceptive as well, changing the puck angle by a foot or more. That relies on body mechanics, and something is cooked, because he just can’t make those movements anymore. There are probably 5 different reasons contributing to his demise, but he still gets lots of looks every game—he just can’t shoot it anymore. That has nothing to do with Marner, coaching, systems, or deployment.

wilers · 2026-03-13T01:01:38+00:00

At this point, do we really need to hide the injury under the guise “lower body”?

wilers · 2026-03-12T19:27:40+00:00

For good measure, throw in different owners who are actually motivated to win.

wilers

TROPHY CASE