‘A crappy feeling’: Maple Leafs feel trade pressure as Treliving scratches, scrambles

NEWARK, N.J. — Brad Treliving, it’s your move.

Pressure on the Toronto Maple Leafs general manager to make a deal — something he hasn’t done since taking a flyer on Dakota Joshua on July 17 — escalated further Wednesday as he scrambled to healthy-scratch trade bait and watched potential partners give up their futures for other veterans.

The Edmonton Oilers, for example, had some level of interest in Toronto depth centre Nicolas Roy; Treliving is believed to want, at minimum, a first-round pick for the last year plus 20 games of Roy’s services.

The Oilers instead spent a 2027 first-round pick as part of a package to acquire centre Jason Dickinson out of Chicago.

Oliver Ekman-Larsson falls under a similar category as veteran defenceman MacKenzie Weegar, who was shipped from Calgary to Utah, yielding the Flames a tidy return that included three second-round picks. 

Ekman-Larsson was the one trade-bait player with term whom Treliving sat out of Wednesday’s 4-3 shootout loss to the New Jersey Devils, which extends Toronto’s losing skid to five.

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“There’s not a lot to say. He knows what’s going on,” head coach Craig Berube said of his best defenceman. “More of a conversation that Brad would have with him about that.”

The other late scratches were pending UFAs Scott Laughton and Bobby McMann, two useful and inexpensive assets seemingly destined to wrap their seasons on better teams.

“He’s been nothing but good to me,” Cowan said of mentor Laughton. “Honestly, I haven’t known him long, but probably wouldn’t be the person I am right now without him. Just a great teammate. Yeah, it’s unfortunate, obviously. Sucks.”

The circumstances of the three holdbacks indicated some disconnect between the front office’s plans and those of the coaching staff.

Berube had announced after morning skate that no players would sit out the game for roster-management reasons, and projected scratches Nick Robertson, Calle Järnkrok, and Troy Stecher put in some extra work.

“Things change as the day goes along,” Berube explained postgame. “It’s tough. We want to win games. And when you come to the rink, and there’s three important players that aren’t in the lineup, it’s going to impact the guys.”

Starting goalie Anthony Stolarz — stellar in a 44-save effort until going 0-for-2 in the shootout — didn’t learn of the new plan until he ran into Laughton in the hotel lobby before walking over to the rink.

Matthew Knies caught on when he saw three empty stalls in the Prudential Center visitors’ room.

“It sucks. You know, those are great guys. And I played with Bobby for three years, and with O for two, and Laughty for one. You get to know those guys so well. So, it’s a crappy feeling not being able to suit up next to them and play with them,” Knies said.

“We’re not gonna hang our heads low and feel defeated. I think we’re still in it. Like, we still have a chance. So, keep believing in that. And, you know, hopefully it all works out. But it’s a crappy feeling that we put ourselves in this situation. But, again, it’s on the guys in this locker room to change course and get it back to where it was.”

Ekman-Larsson, the only Leafs defenceman yet to miss a game this season, had fully expected to dress. 

His wife, Maja, is expecting to give birth to their second child any day now. The family decided Oliver would travel to participate in the Olympics alone because of that.

“She’s got a lot to think about at this time. You forget, at times, that you have other stuff going on in your life, too. We’re just focusing on controlling what we can control and go from there,” the 34-year-old father said. “It’s obviously tough on everybody.

“We, as a family, we’re super happy to be here, and we want to stay here.”

But as much as McMann and Laughton have each professed their appreciation for being Maple Leafs and belief that the roster can eventually get things on track, they have also put themselves in line for paydays that Treliving appears unwilling to match.

That San Jose signed Kiefer Sherwood — who has 18 goals to McMann’s 19 this season — to a five-year contract worth $28.75 million ($5.75 AAV) on Wednesday should only improve McMann’s bargaining power. Both are undrafted, late-blooming wingers who will be 30 when next season begins.

As the losses pile and the hours tick down, change is coming.

On this night, with Treliving’s late scratches and Hockey Twitter ablaze with trade activity not yet involving the Maple Leafs, that change is at once feeling more imminent and more pressing.

Reality is seeping in here. 

Denial is no longer an option.

“All three of them would be very tough to see them go,” William Nylander said, quietly and without a shirt. “Something you don’t really want to think about too much.”

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The same goes for missing the playoffs.

“It’s weird to be in this position right now. Haven’t really, I think, fully understand that’s what might happen,” Nylander said. “I mean, it’s a tight spot to get in. I mean, if it doesn’t happen, I mean, it’s a tough position to be in.”

Even tougher for Treliving, as the executive is feeling the squeeze.

• Waiver pickup Stecher’s transition to Toronto was seamless. The hardworking righty shot into a top-four role and went plus-11 over his first 20 games as a Leaf.

Over the following 20, Stecher went dash-10. The pending UFA had come back down to earth. 

So much so, Berube healthy scratched Stecher Monday versus Philadelphia and had planned to sit him again Wednesday — until Treliving pulled Ekman-Larsson from the lineup a few hours before puck drop.

“He owns it,” Berube said. “He knows that his play dropped a bit, and he gave us a lot of good hockey, and he’s been really good for us. But sometimes you got to take a break and get a different guy in there.”

The prideful Stecher wants to keep his conversations with the coaching staff private.

“Obviously, I haven’t played well enough, so not very happy with my game, and got to be better,” the defenceman told us Wednesday morning, after putting in extra work at morning skate. 

“It’s on them to get me back in the lineup, and then it’s on me to make sure I do the job, to prove that I deserve to stay in. So, just focus on trying to play as best I can.”

The veteran Stecher carries a bargain $787,500 cap hit and does have 29 games of playoff experience. He tells us he’s unfazed by the uncertainty of the trade deadline.

“Just another day, honestly,” Stecher said. “I got traded three years in a row. I’m pretty immune to having any feelings on deadline day. It’s just another day. If you get traded, you get traded. If you don’t, you don’t. 

“Ask anybody in here. We all love playing for each other, and we love being a Leaf. But none of us have any control over what happens.”

• New Jersey is facing a decision on right-shot defenceman Simon Nemec, who is in the final year of his entry-level deal and is worthy of a significant raise.

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

Hard to see a world where all seven arrive at training camp.

• Cool moment as golden goal scorer Megan Keller dropped the puck in a ceremonial faceoff won by fellow golden goal scorer Jack Hughes, who has been jumping from Saturday Night Live to The Pat McAfee Show to The Tonight Show.

“Everybody from that team has had a whirlwind couple weeks, but him probably more than anybody,” Team USA captain Matthews said. “I’m so happy for him. He’s an incredible, incredible person, incredible player, and I think all the attention and stuff that he’s getting couldn’t have happened to a better person.”

The Hughes brothers shared a memorable podium with Matthews in Milan on the eve of the Americans’ victory and pumped the captain’s tires:

“Both of them stepping up like that was obviously nice,” Matthews said. “I think the world of those two as people.”

• MLSE honcho Keith Pelley was offered a chance to discuss his plan for the underachieving Maple Leafs on Wednesday during an appearance for his soccer club. 

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

• Chris Tanev’s undergoing core muscle surgery in New York on Wednesday certainly feels like the right move, but, curiously, the procedure took place more than two months after the defenceman’s most recent game action.

“He wanted to try to come back and play this year,” Berube said. “But it didn’t work out, so he got the operation.”

Here’s hoping the 36-year-old is rehabbed and ready for training camp as expected. He and the Leafs are committed to each other for four more seasons beyond this one.