While the Maple Leafs continue losing on the ice, giving fans some draft-pick hope, what’s happening off-ice is drawing the main attention, as the organization’s search for a replacement for Brad Treliving is well underway.
In Keith Pelley’s press conference following Treliving’s dismissal, he noted that the possibilities are wide open in terms of whether they hire a President of Hockey Operations or only a General Manager. It makes sense for the Leafs to explore all possibilities and angles. There’s really no reason for them to have a set framework in mind, and when we look around the league, there is no one-size-fits-all approach to be found.
We’re not even a year removed from Brendan Shanahan’s removal being celebrated as supposedly eliminating some red tape between the GM and the board, and now we’re clamouring for a President and a GM, given how the Leafs‘ season has gone.
Not to harp on someone who has already lost his job, but Treliving was unsuccessful this season due to his incompetence. He didn’t need a President above him to have success this season; he simply needed to do a better job. There’s a world where they simply hire a better GM, and it more than suffices.
You can also argue that there should be consideration for at least hiring someone to serve as a buffer between Pelley and the GM. Pelley went to great lengths to say he doesn’t want to be involved and won’t be moving forward, but the man doth protest too much, methinks.
As names have begun to emerge, it has been interesting to hear all the chatter about them hiring person X as President and person Y as GM, potentially with person Z as the new coach, too. Elliotte Friedman essentially squashed that notion over the weekend when he reported that the Leafs are looking to hire one person. This is the only thing they really can or should do, to be honest. Running an interview process to hire two people and create some sort of arranged marriage is not a recipe for success.
Whoever the Leafs hire will presumably bring on their own team and resources. That could mean a President hires a GM, or a GM overhauls their assistant GM group. If anything, part of the evaluation should chart out how each candidate plans to fill out the rest of the management team. Beyond that, MLSE hiring multiple hockey executives — let alone a coach — and forcing them to work together doesn’t make any sense.
Therefore, the first step, regardless of whether it’s a President or GM, is to hire someone to lead the charge. This process got off to an inauspicious start when the Leafs hired Neil Glasberg and PBI Sports, a firm that handled the same process for the Canucks, Ducks and Flyers, none of which I’d consider model franchises in the league.
More perplexing, though, is that Glasberg represents team executives and head coaches while under contract to help a team find an executive… who might also be hiring a head coach soon. It is not humanly possible to avoid some level of conflict of interest in this scenario. It raised enough alarm bells that the Leafs released a statement about it, too:
Leafs release a statement about the hiring of their search firm. This has to be a first. pic.twitter.com/MdwKVMVqXP
— David Alter (@davidalter) April 9, 2026
This story from Frank Seravalli has recirculated following the Leafs’ hiring of Glasberg, and one part, in particular, stands out.
When asked why he felt it was proper to consult on a search where clients or close connections of clients may be candidates, Glasberg bristled:
“You have no [bleeping] clue,” Glasberg said. “You’re making something out of nothing. You should quit while you’re ahead. Learn how to read between the lines.”
I’ll assume these are accurate quotes, knowing the story has been up for three years and Glasberg hasn’t challenged it. Regardless of what one may think of Seravalli’s work, it’s a fair question and a ridiculous answer full of red flags. It’s certainly not the answer of someone I’d want to do business with in any capacity. The fact that this group was hired for this search is, in and of itself, eyebrow-raising, if we’re honest.
Taking stock of the full picture now, we have the President of MLSE — who has a European Golf Tour background — and Glasberg — who also has no real hockey background beyond seemingly representing some individuals off-ice, in a clear conflict of interest — heading the search. It’s possible the organization hires a strong executive who takes it from there; that’s not out of the question, given that this job will naturally attract a lot of top talent. But it’s not exactly off to a great start, other than the fact that they’re seemingly aware they should only hire one person (for now), and from there, said individual will have a lot of work ahead to build out the management group.
In the meantime, hopefully, the Leafs can finish the tank in their final two games of the season.
Notes 
Photo: Dan Hamilton-USA Today Sports/Imagn Images
– It’s understandably not receiving much attention, but in the AHL, Dennis Hildeby isn’t exactly lighting it up. He’s played 22 games and has a 9-8-5 record, giving up 2.7 goals against per game with a .896 save percentage. All of those marks would be a career-worst for him in the AHL, and in fact, this will mark the third straight season where his AHL numbers have dipped since his strong rookie showing in the league. Hildeby did play 19 games in the NHL this season, and his play was strong; his .912 mark with the Leafs is actually the only save percentage on the team over .900 right now (!). But what to make of his mediocre play since returning to the Marlies for the second half of the season will be one to sort through.
Starting next season, Hildeby can’t be sent down without waivers, and they definitely shouldn’t lose him for free, but he isn’t exactly making a great case that he’s fully ready. It’s hard to bank on 19 NHL games when he otherwise hasn’t been particularly good over the past two seasons.
– It’s not like anyone has been good in net this season, though. Joseph Woll had one of his worst games of the season against Florida over the weekend, and his save percentage dipped to .899 as a result. He played 42 games last season, a career high, and he should receive one more start to finish with 40 this season. He mainly missed time due to an off-ice issue to start the season rather than an injury. He’s shown he can give the team that workload at this point, but it would be foolish to bank on anything more than 50 per cent of the games.
– For whatever it’s worth, Morgan Rielly’s 11 goals are the second-highest total mark of his career. It’s just inside the top 25 among all defensemen. It does feel like it’s time to move on, but they shouldn’t have to sweeten the pot to move him. At worst, it should be a Seth Jones-like situation where Florida did eat some salary but also received a first-round pick and Spencer Knight. The return will be nowhere near as good, but it should be one that only improves if the Leafs retain.
– Oliver Ekman-Larsson has three more points than Rielly this season, so unless he passes him in the final two games of the season, it’ll be the first time that a defenseman other than Rielly led the Leafs’ defense in scoring since 2019-20, when Rielly played only 47 games due to injury, paving the way for Tyson Barrie to outscore him.
– Since the start of February, Nick Robertson has just five points in 24 games. He produced 26 in 52 before that. Needless to say, Robertson is ending the season with a real whimper and will once again be an RFA, only this time, he has arbitration rights. Down the stretch, he hasn’t made a real case to stay with the team moving forward, and he has now played 232 games in the league and turns 25 this year.
Quotes 
Photo: Dan Hamilton-USA Today Sports/Imagn Images
“My experience going around the city is just how supportive people are, no matter the circumstance. Whether it’s over the last couple weeks or after last year, after Game 7, the support was there … the passion for this team is unwavering.”
– John Tavares on the Leafs’ fan support
I wasn’t sure what Scotiabank Arena would be like down the stretch as the Leafs rack up losses, but it has been relatively calm. Fans have seemingly accepted the season for what it is and are generally hoping they can successfully tank.
“There are far more challenges in either a large market or a Canadian market. There just are. You have to be aware of how that gets into your room.
I’ll give you an example. In my short time here, I would never change the lines in practice, especially if we had two or three days off. If I changed the lines, I had 30 cameras in that guy’s stall, for the guy who went from the second to third line. It might just be that you wanted to switch something, but that becomes a story you build. So I always did it in the game. If I did it in-game, it was, “Oh, I just wanted to give the other guy a chance,” and you try to keep the cameras out.”
– Paul Maurice on playing/coaching in a Canadian market like Toronto
I thought this was an interesting anecdote from Paul Maurice about navigating the Toronto market. You can’t let it dictate how you conduct your business, but there is an element of handling it and managing through it.
“Serious enough. It can, for sure.”
– Craig Berube on whether Anthony Stolarz’s injury could impact his offseason
It’s a shame at this point when it comes to Anthony Stolarz. He’s extremely talented and by far the Leafs’ best goaltender at playing the puck, but he simply cannot stay healthy. Starting the offseason with a potentially notable injury is not a good way to rebound for next season, either.
Tweets of the Week 
Photo: Christian Bonin/TSGPhoto.com
PLAYOFF BOUND! 👊 pic.twitter.com/JsT0ZxSlhP
— Toronto Marlies (@TorontoMarlies) April 8, 2026
It will be very interesting to monitor who the Marlies end up dressing for the playoffs. Right now, the roster is a bit all over the place, with the Leafs adding a bunch of their players while the Marlies also integrate college and junior players.
If TO gets a top 5 pick this season their next two picks go to PHI and BOS, respectively, with essentially no trade protection.
There is verbiage that TO can pick who gets next year’s pick – a bizarre clause – but some w/ PHI have disputed that. https://t.co/J9FXaRKL3s
— Anthony Di Marco (@ADiMarco25) April 12, 2026
Well, that would be an interesting twist to monitor if things went this direction.
Good season boys pic.twitter.com/2wJeAjERUE
— Sam McKee (@SamAMcKee) April 9, 2026
It’s incredible that the Leafs entered this season with pretty much the entire hockey world viewing them as a playoff team, and it turned out like this. The Chris Tanev injury has been significant, and Auston Matthews has missed a quarter of the season, but there’s no excuse to be this bad. With just baseline competence, they would likely be in the mix, which shouldn’t be something beyond their reach for next season.
Five Things I Think I’d Do Photo: Sam Navarro-USA TODAY Sports
1. If the Leafs are calling up Marlies players, I think it goes without saying that they should play games. The Marlies are gearing up for the playoffs, and they actually still have a shot at a first-round bye. While they’re fighting for one, the Leafs are calling up the Marlies’ best players and healthy-scratching them. We’ve talked a lot about the organization’s blatant dysfunction this season, and everyone understands the situation is in flux right now, but at some point, they need to stop the bleeding and the unforced errors. They should call up some kids and evaluate them. There is no issue there. And if they want to keep certain players down to help the Marlies make a push, this is also understandable. What doesn’t make any sense: calling up Ryan Tverberg so he can watch from up top as Calle Jarnkrok plays his 55th game, or bringing up William Villeneuve to watch Philippe Myers play his 39th.
2. I think the Leafs have an interesting decision ahead of them with Easton Cowan and whether he plays for the Toronto Marlies in the playoffs, or if he has any hope of playing for Team Canada in the Worlds (it is no sure thing that he’ll be asked). That said, I think I’d prefer he plays for the Marlies in the AHL playoffs.
While the Worlds is a great experience where he’d play with and against talented players across the league, it is still a European-style tournament, and even going the distance and winning it doesn’t really prepare him for anything on this side of the Atlantic Ocean. Grinding through a much more physical AHL playoff run alongside potential teammates next season strikes me as more beneficial for his development.
On the Marlies, the Leafs are also in complete control of the situation, rather than Cowan heading across the ocean, where anything could happen, including barely playing. He’s put together a great end to his season; let’s see if he can carry it through some meaningful AHL playoff games and potentially spearhead a postseason run. It would be great for him and the organization.
3. I didn’t think it was possible for the Leafs to drop this far in the standings, and whether or not it was done on purpose, this is hopefully for the best, provided they can actually keep their draft pick. There are still two games remaining, and neither opponent has anything to play for and will be resting players, so it’s quite possible that they pick up some points and move up the standings. If they remain in fifth, it means they have a 44 percent chance of moving down to sixth in the lottery, a 24.5 percent chance of remaining at fifth, and an 8.5 percent chance of drafting first overall. It’s not a warm and fuzzy feeling either way, obviously, but it’s worth a shot at this rate, given how the season has gone.
4. On a related note, I would be inclined to sit out a few veteran players to finish the season. Jake McCabe is averaging a career-high 22:27 and is at -11 in his past six games; he looks completely out of gas. Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Matthew Knies are clearly labouring out there. I’d sit them all. I’m sure some will ask, “Why stop there?” but I don’t think it’s so easy to look at a player like John Tavares, who is completely healthy, and tell him he’s sitting.
5. Last but not least, I wanted to take a second to thank all of our readers who stopped by this space this season. It hasn’t been a fun year to follow the team, but the fan support is always second to none, and we greatly appreciate it.