LAS VEGAS — Brad Treliving is trying to jump the market on his Number 1 target.
The Toronto Maple Leafs struck a draft-floor deal Saturday at the Las Vegas Sphere, trading a 2026 seventh-round pick and the expiring contract of arbitration-eligible prospect Max Ellis to Dallas for the rights to negotiate a new contract with Tanev over the next 44 hours.
Once Treliving caught wind that Tanev, 34, would not be re-signing with the Stars and was eager to explore free agency on July 1, he pounced.
“We want to jump the queue here as best we could and get to him before free agency started,” Treliving said. “I know the player well. We’ll get to work on it now.”
Treliving has had eyes for Tanev since the executive left Calgary, and Tanev is precisely the type of heart-and-soul defender the Leafs should target.
Provided the price and term aren’t exorbitant.
The right shot (and GTA product) can help stabilize a risk-taking lefty (ask Quinn Hughes), take on 18 or 19 minutes of tough defensive assignments, and busy himself with the unpleasant business of killing penalties, D-zone starts and eating three square meals of pucks a day.
Health will always be a concern for the veteran because he plays such a gritty, honest game.
The catch here is twofold: (a) Tanev wants term, which is a risky proposition considering the wear on the player’s tires, and (b) he has plenty of suitors (Ottawa and Vancouver among them) which could drive up the price.
The Maple Leafs are entertaining a seven-year max-term deal to keep Tanev’s cap hit low.
“He’s just an elite defensive player. You know, we talk about offensive players seeing plays early. He does the same thing but on the defensive side of the puck,” Treliving said.
“An absolute warrior. He’s a culture carrier for your room. Listen, I know the age he’s at. But I think even in the last year he showed he’s one of the top shutdown defencemen, one of the top defensive players, in the league. And he’s a right shot. He embodies everything you want in a teammate.
“It’s exciting. A hell of a player. Tremendous person. He’ll be a big part of our group if we can get it all put together.”
Treliving had tried to acquire Tanev before the 2024 deadline, only to see him shipped to Dallas for an excellent run to the Western Conference Final.
The only right-shot NHL defenceman the Maple Leafs have under contract for 2024-25 is Conor Timmins, who was a healthy scratch in the playoffs.
They still hold negotiating rights to another one, Timothy Liljegren — but his future is wildly uncertain as a restricted free agent with arbitration rights.
Liljegren, 25, is due a $1.5 million qualifying offer by Sunday at 5 p.m. ET. No offer, and Liljegren becomes unrestricted. If Treliving retains Liljegren’s rights, he could trade the player or be forced to give him a raise in arbitration.
The GM was noncommittal on which of his RFAs (Liljegren, Nick Robertson, Noah Gregor, Connor Dewar) will receive offers Sunday.
“We’ll have something on out here in the next a little bit,” he said. “We’re working on sort of all those fronts right now.”
So busy with work on the long weekend, the Maple Leafs brass has decided to remain in Vegas over Canada Day and conduct their free agency and trade business before flying back to Toronto.
Fox’s Fast Five
• Treliving maintains he’ll keep working on possible extensions for his own UFAs, Tyler Bertuzzi and Max Domi, but time is running out — and they are not the priority.
• The Sphere booed Toronto as the Leafs maxed out their allotted time to pick in the second round. Treliving called a timeout before dealing the 58th pick (Boston’s) to Florida in exchange for the Panthers’ 2025 second-round pick and the very final pick of 2024.
That ’25 second-rounder could come in handy when the trade deadline rolls around. The Leafs were priced out of the defenceman rental market in ’24 because they had no second to deal.
• Treliving on a thinning goalie market, which saw another player (Logan Thompson to Washington) traded Saturday: “We’ve been poking around at it, and we know we’ve got to shore that up on our end. And we’re confident that we can.”
• Leafs coach Craig Berube says “it’s not surprising at all” that some fan snapped a photo of he and Mitch Marner meeting at a coffee shop last month.
“And to be honest with you, I’ve forgot about it already,” Berube said. “Nothing I can do about it. I don’t care. I’m focused on talking to the player. That’s it. Things happen.”
• Chief amateur scout Wes Clark on first-round pick Ben Danford: “Elite intangibles. Excellent defensive instincts. Just checks all the boxes that we were looking for. The upside, I think, is sky high…. Ben was pretty much the target all the way along. So, lucky we got him.”
Two non-Leafs scouts told us Danford would’ve likely still been on the board on Day 2, in the 50 to 55 range of the draft.
Clark said Toronto didn’t consider trading down a second time and wanted to snatch Danford at 31.
Clark got his man.
