No one ever said general manager had an easy job. It was a little less than two months ago that Treliving sat at a table with and and listened to what sounded a lot like an acknowledgment that, 10 years into the Shanaplan, All of which left Treliving to answer a difficult question: How do you make a substantial change to a team when you can’t do much about changing its core? Because let’s face it, as much as a majority of Leafs fans would be perfectly happy to see next season, it’s Marner — like every other member of the Core Four — who holds full control over his career until his contract expires. Still, barring a miracle deal to shake the foundation of Toronto’s faulty build, the Leafs would no doubt like to be able to spin the notion they’ve made real change (real improvements, even) as they wait for The beauty of being a perennial playoff failure like the Leafs is this: You’ve got a transaction-filled off-season, plus a presumably successful regular season, to convince people that this time it’ll be different.
And here’s the thing: The newly assembled team, which has begun to take shape, figures to look at least a little bit different. When you sufficiently shuffle the proverbial deck chairs, it always does. Part of the change will come in the form of a new daily voice, If he’s been billed as a take-no-prisoners hardass on account of his past as an on-ice tough guy, the Leafs are betting it’s Berube’s Stanley Cup ring that’ll give him the credi.
