Blade of Steel has no direct affiliation to the Toronto Maple Leafs, NHL or NHLPA
Brad Treliving seals Auston Matthews' fate in Toronto
Photo credit: Geoff Burke-Imagn Images
There have been some trade rumors surrounding Toronto Maple Leafs captain Auston Matthews, and Brad Treliving is now being forced to answer for these rumors.
With Auston Matthews and the Toronto Maple Leafs struggling, there has been all sorts of doom and gloom around the organization and its future.
In fact, there have even been some analysts opining about an Auston Matthews trade, and how the Leafs should look for a quick rebuild.
It all comes across as a bit silly, and quite frankly, it feels extremely unlikely that the Maple Leafs would just pull the plug and make a brash move.
Brad Treliving speaks on Auston Matthews
Today, Leafs general manager Brad Treliving got to speak with the media, and once again, he reiterated how he feels about Matthews.
When asked if a trade was coming, he made it crystal clear that the Leafs do not have any interest in making such a drastic move.
Treliving also went on to say that the Leafs are going to be buyers at the trade deadline. There have been rumblings that the Leafs would be sellers, but Treliving won't commit to that.
It's an interesting predicament the Leafs are in, especially when you consider how they are in last place in the Eastern Conference.
In this situation, you would expect a team to resort to selling away assets and regrouping for next season. However, Treliving thinks the Leafs are still alive.
Moving forward, it will be fascinating to see whether or not the Leafs fanbase actually buys whatever is being sold here.
The sense right now is that this roster is not good enough. They are not one player away from winning. Rasmus Andersson isn't going to save this team, and it is naive to think otherwise.