‘Feeling out of sorts’: Maple Leafs feel trade pressure as Treliving scratches, scrambles

NEWARK, NJ — Brad Treliving, it’s your choice.

The pressure on the Toronto Maple Leafs’ general manager to make a trade, something he hasn’t done since taking a flier for Dakota Joshua on July 17, grew even more on Wednesday as he scrambled with sound trade bait and watched his potential partner give up his future for another veteran.

For example, the Edmonton Oilers had some interest in Toronto deep center Nicolas Roy. Treliving reportedly wants at least last year’s first-round pick and 20 games of Roy’s services.

Instead, the Oilers used a 2027 first-round pick as part of a package to acquire center Jason Dickinson from Chicago.

Oliver Ekman-Larsson falls into a similar category as veteran defenseman MacKenzie Weegar. MacKenzie Weegar transferred from Calgary to Utah, giving the Flames a clean return that included three second-round picks.

Ekman-Larsson was one of Treliving’s trade bait players in Wednesday’s 4-3 loss to the New Jersey Devils that extended Toronto’s losing streak to five games.

“There’s not much to say about his best defender, he knows what’s going on,” coach Craig Berube said of his best defender. “I think Brad would have had more conversations with him about that.”

Other late blemishes were pending UFAs Scott Laughton and Bobby McMann. These two useful, inexpensive assets appear destined to finish the season on better teams.

“He was just a great guy to me,” Cowan said of mentor Laughton. “Honestly, I haven’t known him that long, but I probably wouldn’t be where I am today without him. He’s just a great teammate. Yeah, it’s unfortunate, of course. It sucks.”

The three holding situations indicate some disconnect between the front office’s plans and those of the coaching staff.

Berube announced after the morning skate that no players would sit out the game for roster management reasons, with Nick Robertson, Calle Järnkrok and Troy Stecher, who are expected to be scratches, given extra work.

“Things change day by day,” Berube explained after the game. “It’s difficult. We want to win games. When you come to the rink and you have three important players who are not in the lineup, it will affect the players.”

Starting goaltender Anthony Stolarz was outstanding, making 44 saves until going 0-for-2 in the shootout, but he didn’t learn about the new plan until he met Laughton in the hotel lobby before walking to the rink.

Matthew Knies noticed three empty cubicles in the Prudential Center visitor room that caught his eye.

“It’s a shame. You know, they’re great guys and I played with Bobby for three years, O for two years and Laughty for a year. You know those guys so well, so it feels crappy to not be able to hang out next to them and play with them,” Knies said.

“We’re not going to hang our heads and feel defeated. I think we’re still in it. We still have a chance. So just keep believing and hope everything works out. But it feels crappy that we’re in this situation. But again, it’s up to the guys in this locker room to change course and get us back where we were.”

As the only Leafs defenseman who has yet to miss a game this season, Ekman-Larsson was fully excited for the outfit.

His wife, Maja, is soon to give birth to their second child. Because of that, the family decided that Oliver would travel to the Olympics on his own.

“She has a lot to think about right now. Sometimes you forget that there’s other things going on in your life too. We’re just focused on controlling what we can control,” the 34-year-old father said. “Of course it is difficult for everyone.

“We are very happy to be here as a family and want to stay here.”

But as much as McMann and Laughton have each professed an appreciation for what is the Maple Leafs and a belief that the roster can finally get things right, they have positioned themselves for a payday that Treliving appears to be inconsistent with.

San Jose’s signing Kiefer Sherwood, who has 18 goals to McMann’s 19 this season, to a five-year deal worth $28.75 million ($5.75 AAV) on Wednesday only improves McMann’s bargaining power. Both are undrafted late-rising wingers who will turn 30 when next season begins.

As losses pile up and time dwindles, change is coming.

Tonight, with Treliving’s late scratch and Hockey Twitter ablaze with trade activity not yet involving the Maple Leafs, that change feels even more imminent and urgent.

Reality is seeping in here.

Rejection is no longer an option.

William Nylander spoke quietly, shirtless. “For all three, it will be very difficult to see them go.” “Something I don’t want to think about too much.”

The same goes for missing the playoffs.

“It’s strange to be in this position right now. I don’t think we fully understand that something like that could happen,” Nylander said. “I mean, it’s a difficult position to be in. I mean, if that doesn’t happen, I mean, it’s a difficult position to be in.”

It’s even harder for Treliving because management feels the pressure.

• Waiver pickup Stecher’s transition to Toronto was seamless. The hard-working right-hander ranked in the top four and was a plus-11 in his first 20 games as a Leaf.

Over the next 20, Stecher recorded 10 dashes. The pending UFA has descended back to Earth.

So much so that Berube scratched Stecher against Philadelphia on Monday and planned to sit him back on Wednesday until Treliving pulled Ekman-Larsson from the lineup hours before puck drop.

“He owns it,” Berube said. “He knows his play has fallen a little bit, he’s given us a lot of good hockey, he’s been really good for us, but sometimes you have to give him a break and bring in another guy.”

Steher, a self-respecting man, wants to keep his conversations with the coaching staff private.

“Obviously I wasn’t very happy with my performance because I didn’t play enough and I had to get better,” the defenseman told Us Wednesday morning after putting in some extra work in the morning skate.

“It’s up to them to get me back in the lineup, and it’s up to me to make sure I do that and prove that I deserve to stay there, so just focus on playing my best.”

The veteran Stecher carries a cap hit of $787,500 and has 29 games of playoff experience. He said he’s not fazed by the uncertainty of the trade deadline.

“Honestly, it’s just another day,” Stecher said. “I’ve been traded three years in a row. I don’t feel anything about the deadline. It’s just another day. If you get traded, you get traded. If you don’t, you don’t get traded.

“Ask anyone here, we all love playing for each other and we love being Leafs, but none of us can control what happens.”

• New Jersey faces a decision on right-handed defenseman Simon Nemec. He is in the final year of his contract and deserves a significant raise.

GM Tom Fitzgerald is making trade offers for the 22-year-old, and the Devils already have six other legitimate NHL blueliners under contract for 2026-27, including Dougie Hamilton.

It is difficult to see a world where all seven people arrive at training camp.

• A great moment when golden goal scorer Megan Keller dropped the puck in a celebratory faceoff, giving fellow golden goal scorer Jack Hughes the win. saturday night live to The Pat McAfee Show to tonight show.

“It’s been a tough few weeks for everyone on that team, probably harder than anyone else,” said Matthews, the U.S. captain. “I’m so happy for him. He’s an unbelievable person, an unbelievable player, and all the attention and things he gets, I don’t think could have happened to a better person.”

The Hughes brothers shared a memorable podium with Matthews in Milan on the eve of the American victory and pumped the skipper’s tires.

“It was definitely a good thing for both of them to step up like that,” Matthews said. “I think of those two people as the world of people.”

• MLSE honcho Keith Pelley was given the opportunity to discuss his plans for the underperforming Maple Leafs during an appearance for his soccer club Wednesday.

“We’re here to talk about TFC and welcome Josh Sargent to Toronto,” Pelley said. “There will be a time when I will address the media at Leafs, but today is not that day.”

• Chris Tanev having core muscle surgery Wednesday in New York certainly felt like the right move, but interestingly, it came more than two months after the defenseman’s most recent game.

“He wanted to come back and play this year,” Berube said. “But it didn’t work, so I had surgery.”

Let’s hope the 36-year-old completes his rehabilitation and is ready for training camp as expected. He and the Leafs remain committed to each other for four seasons beyond this season.