Maple Leafs rumors: Elliotte Friedman clears the air on Craig Berube & Brad Treliving's job security after rocky start to season

The Toronto Maple Leafs took some heat off themselves this weekend with a strong 7-2 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins which was their first time holding a four-goal lead all season. The result temporarily cooled the public pressure surrounding head coach Craig Berube and general manager Brad Treliving whose futures had become a talking point as the team struggled to find consistency.

On Sportsnet’s Saturday Headlines, Elliotte Friedman clarified that despite all the outside chatter, the organization is not considering major changes behind the bench or in the front office.

He stressed that the spike in pressure didn’t lead to any internal discussions about firing the coach or replacing the GM.

“I don't believe that there's anything imminent in terms of major organizational changes like coach GM, anything like that. I don't think they're thinking about it. I don't think it's on the horizon,” he said.

“I think if anything like that was to happen, it's down the road. So I know again people were wondering could they do that kind of a change? I don't think it's on the horizon at all.”

The win in Pittsburgh on Saturday helped calm things down. Toronto got a much-needed balanced offensive push and it moved the Leafs to 11-11-3 on the season after an up-and-down first two months marked by inconsistent road results and a tight overall goal differential.

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Maple Leafs not ready to trade any of their core players

During the discussion, Elliotte Friedman noted that Toronto has been active in exploring ways to improve its roster, but that any conversations have centered on complementary moves and not on moving franchise pillars or restructuring leadership.

He made it clear that nothing involving their core players including Auston Matthews, William Nylander or John Tavares is currently on the table

“Well, the thing is that, we've talked about it. They're really looking. They're trying to do things. They don't want to trade like the Matthews, the Nylander, the Tavares,” he said.

“That's not happening. But they have looked around. The one thing is the heat really got going this week.”

Through 25 games, Toronto has been steadier at home (8-4-3) than on the road (3-7-0) and sits with a narrow overall goal differential (85 goals for, 89 against). The club remains in the mix within the Eastern Conference but consistency remains the hurdle separating the Leafs from the Atlantic Division’s upper tier.