Brad Treliving is turning over a new leaf after being tabbed as part of Canada’s leadership group for the upcoming IIHF World Hockey Championship.

He’ll co-manage the team with Jason Spezza, with Kyle Dubas and Scott Salmond also in supporting roles.

Treliving, the former Toronto Maple Leafs general manager, is getting back to work quickly after being fired on March 30. He’ll oversee the Canadian roster for the May 15 to 31 event, which is being played in Zurich and Fribourg, Switzerland.

This is the third time Treliving has been part of Canada’s World Championship management staff, who won a pair of golds with him as GM in 2016 and assistant GM in 2015.

Spezza is the assistant general manager of the Pittsburgh Penguins. Dubas is the Penguins’ president of hockey operations and GM, and Salmond is Hockey Canada’s senior vice president of high performance and hockey operations

What this means for Treliving

Losing the Leafs job was the first time the veteran hockey executive had ever been fired.

Treliving spent seven years working in the Arizona Coyotes front office until being hired by the Calgary Flames as GM in 2014. Shortly after walking away from that job in spring 2023, he was hired by the Maple Leafs.

So, the World Championship assignment offers him an immediate opportunity to get back to work.

Treliving remains under contract to the Leafs for one more season and is expected to seek other NHL management opportunities as they become available.

Why this World Championship matters for Canada

With memories of a heartbreaking overtime loss to Team USA at the Milan Olympics still fresh, this effectively marks the start of the next Olympic cycle for the men’s program.

Canada typically takes a younger team to the World Championship in an Olympic year, with the idea that some of those players will likely be in the mix for the next Olympic Games, in this case, the 2030 French Alps Games.

Plus, the country could use a victory.

Canada failed to medal at the past two World Championships — last winning gold in 2023 — and has just one bronze to show for the past three World Juniors tournaments.