Leafs President Admits He Didn’t See The Canadiens Coming
The Montreal Canadiens are the talk of the NHL due to their headache-free rebuild, which has them heading towards the […]
Eric Bolte-Imagn Images The Montreal Canadiens are the talk of the NHL due to their headache-free rebuild, which has them heading towards the playoffs for the second consecutive season, and yet, Toronto Maple Leafs president Keith Pelley suggests his franchise did not see them coming, so to speak. Pelley addressed the media on Tuesday, a day after firing former general manager Brad Treliving. One of the talking points centred on Toronto’s realization that the Stanley Cup window had firmly closed shut, a situation that took Maple Leafs management a little longer to realize than most.
It was only once they acknowledged the Canadiens and Buffalo Sabres had improved their standing significantly that the Leafs were ready to make wholesale changes. “We need to be better, we need to be able to adapt quicker, and we definitely didn’t see the train coming that was the Buffalo Sabres and the Montreal Canadiens,” said Pelley. “And how strong those two teams are.
” Leafs MLSE President Keith Pelley on what went wrong this season with the team: pic. twitter. com/lDoC5w2frK — TSN (@TSN_Sports) March 31, 2026 “Buffalo and Montreal have shown that young, energetic team,” he said.
“They’re going to be here for a long time. The prospects they have, from Michael Hage, to Radim Mrtka from Buffalo, they’re strong, and they’re going to be strong for a long period of time. ” It’s very rare to hear a president discuss other franchises during a public press conference, especially while naming a top prospect such as Hage .