Brad Treliving throws Maple Leafs players under the bus.

Brad Treliving's tenure with the Toronto Maple Leafs is likely not one that will be remembered fondly by the Maple Leafs fans who lived through it, with that tenure marred by questionable roster decisions, questionable trades, and very questionable asset management.

That being said the blame for what was a catastrophic campaign on the part of the Maple Leafs during the 2025-26 National Hockey League regular season cannot be placed solely on the shoulders of Treliving, and it would seem that the former Maple Leafs general manager agrees.

Treliving was recently interviewed as part of his role with Hockey Canada at the International Ice Hockey Federation's World Championship of Hockey and it was during that interview that he was asked about his time with the Maple Leafs.

Treliving began by taking accountability for his own failures, but that would quickly shift as he went deeper into his response.

"As a manager you take responsibility for it so the responsibility is mine," said Treliving. "I would say management, coaching, players we all share right? We all got 33% of the pie here."

While Treliving wasn't prepared to use the injuries the Maple Leafs dealt with throughout the season as an excuse, he did put a significant portion of the blame on his players for not buying in this past season.

"You can look and say there was injuries and the beginning of the year we lost the goaltenders but everybody gets injuries, to me those are an excuse," said Treliving. "There was a fall off... we didn't have the buy in, you can debate how we played a little bit."

Treliving made it clear that even when his players were winning on the ice, the team never truly felt like they were winning where it mattered.

"Even the games we won on the scoreboard we weren't winning," admitted Treliving. "Whether it be shot share, controlling play, driving play, so that's something that maybe not for today but maybe in the future here I will be able to dissect a little further."

That being said Treliving understands why he was let go and made no effort to shy away from the reasons why.

"I understand it was a tough year and when you go through a year like that there is consequences," said Treliving.