So the Toronto Maple Leafs didn’t have the playoff season they dreamed of and got knocked out by the Florida Panthers before the latter made their way to the Eastern Conference final, where they went on to power through the Carolina Hurricanes as well. While the Maple Leafs shouldn’t be taking things too badly because Florida is a formidable force of nature at this point, the team is obviously looking to make some changes to their lineup.

For starters, their captain and star player Auston Matthews’s injury, though confirmed, has not been detailed, and for the Leafs to get through the start of the regular season with a potential handicap in terms of Matthews, they might have to consider the larger picture. Which, it seems, is what general manager Brad Treliving seems to be doing by finally addressing the questions about Mitch Marner’s future.

It’s no secret that Mitch Marner failed to shine this playoff season, with only 2 goals and 11 assists in the 13 games he played with the Leafs, and so when Brad Treliving made a statement soon after the team was knocked out of the playoffs saying, “There’s some DNA that has to change in our team,” Fans were quick to assume he meant Marner’s DNA in particular. However, nothing was confirmed about the same till now.

In a recent interview released to the Maple Leafs YouTube channel, Treliving is asked about Marner’s future, to which he responds, “I had a meeting with all the players individually; we do our exit meetings. Mitch and I had a discussion; it’s emotional right now, right? And so my discussion with Mitch is, let’s all take a step back; let’s take a deep breath. I’ve got to decompress a little bit.”

Though, as an unrestricted free agent, Marner will also have some agency when it comes to his future, which Brad Treliving was sure to point out, adding, “We’re going to meet as a staff; I’m going to be in touch with Mitch’s representative and all of our players representatives and determine what’s best right now.” Treliving didn’t confirm or deny any one particular direction but did stress, “Mitch has a say in this as well, right? So this isn’t the world according to Brad. Um, I think he’s a great player; he’s been a great player here. We’ll have to see; we’ll have to see how this all works.” Treliving then went on to commend Mitch Marner, saying, “Can I think Mitch can succeed? Yes, I do, but as I said before, we’ve all got to kind of take a step back and look at, you know, we can’t be rigid in our thought process of saying we can only do something one way, and like I said, he’s got a say in the process.” 

Which only amounts to a rather convoluted and vague response to the elephant in the room, but I suppose we’ll just have to wait and see.

Along with potential parting of ways with Mitch Marner the Toronto Maple Leafs face many other big changes

In the same postgame interview, Brad Treliving didn’t fail to mention the other elephant in the room, that the Toronto Maple Leafs will be parting ways with their president and alternate governor, Brendan Shanahan. Treliving said of the change, “With Brendan’s situation, um, you know that that was a bit of a curveball that just took a couple days here to kind of get through.”

Shanahan himself spoke of the change, admitting that he regrets not being able to bring the team to a Stanley Cup victory in his tenure as president, saying, “While I am proud of the rebuild we embarked on starting in 2014, ultimately, I came here to help win the Stanley Cup, and we did not. There is nothing more I wanted to deliver to our fans, and my biggest regret is that we could not finish the job.”

With Shanahan gone and Mitch Marner potentially on his way out, it looks like the Leafs are going to have a complete overhaul in the near future. Keith Pelley, the president and CEO of Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment (MLSE), is going to work directly with Brad Treliving and coach Craig Berube going forward to see how to best formulate the new Toronto Maple Leafs.

All the rest of us can do now is watch.