The Sheet with Jeff Marek - On the Sheet: Brian Burke on Treliving's Firing, Keith Pelley's Press Conference, and Tortorella in Vegas

Episode Date: April 1, 2026

Jeff Marek is joined by Brian Burke to break down the biggest storylines across the NHL as the league heads toward the postseason and the playoff race continues to tighten.The conversation begins in Toronto, where the Maple Leafs have officially fired Brad Treliving as general manager. Marek and Burke unpack what led to the decision, the fallout across the organization, and what MLSE President Keith Pelley had to say during his media availability yesterday about the future direction of the franchise. They discuss what the next GM search could look like, how the front office structure may change moving forward, and what it all means for the roster and leadership group heading into a pivotal offseason for the Leafs.Leave a voicemail: https://www.speakpipe.com/TheSheetEmail us: [e-mail] TO OUR SPONSORS!!👍🏼 Fan Duel: https://www.fanduel.com/👍🏼 Ninja: https://www.sharkninja.ca/ninja-crispi-pro-6-in-1-countertop-glass-air-fryer-rose-quartz/AS101CRS.html?utm_source=Meta&utm_medium=Paid+Social&utm_campaign=H1NinjaCrispi&utm_content=NinjaEN&dwvar_AS101CRS_color=cdb9b8Reach out to [e-mail] to connect with our Sales Team and discuss opportunities to partner with us!If you liked this, check out:🚨 OTT - Coming in Hot Sens | https://www.youtube.com/c/thewallyandmethotshow🚨 TOR - LeafsNation | https://www.youtube.com/@theleafsnation401🚨 EDM - OilersNation | https://www.youtube.com/@Oilersnationdotcom🚨 VAN - CanucksArmy | https://www.youtube.com/@Canucks_Army🚨 CGY - FlamesNation | https://www.youtube.com/@FNBarnBurner🚨 Daily Faceoff Fantasy & Betting | www.youtube.com/@DFOFantasyandBetting____________________________________________________________________________________________Connect with us on ⬇️Link Tree: https://linktr.ee/daily_faceoff💻 Website: https://www.dailyfaceoff.com🐦 Follow on twitter: https://x.com/DailyFaceoff💻 Follow on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dailyfaceoffDaily Faceoff Merch:https://nationgear.ca/collections/daily-faceoffReach out to [e-mail] to connect with our Sales Team and discuss opportunities to partner with us! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Burkey, I got to tell you, man, in all the years that I worked with you, I never beat you to the office. You were always there early, watching games on the phone, all of it. I know every stop that you had in your career, you always prided yourself on getting to the office before everybody else. You were there early. But this one takes the cake, bud. Like right now, I believe you're in, is it Melbourne? I know you're in Australia. Is it Melbourne?

Right. Okay. So you're in Melbourne, Australia. What time is it there? It's 4 o'clock in the morning here. I just went to bed for a while and got up, so I looked at me in the shelter. What time did you get?

You get up like 3.30 for this? Yeah, I did. Holy smokes. I'm impressed. That's dedication. That's more dedication than I have to this program. So bravo. But there's a lot to get to.

And first of all, I'm glad you could be able to pop by this week. I thought that maybe we were without you. And I thought, oh, this is a perfect Berkey week. because of the Brad Trilliving situation, and also there's a correlation with John Tortorella and a conversation we can have there with the Vegas Cold of the Knights. But let's initially start with the news in Toronto.

And we saw the press conference yesterday with Keith Pelly of MLSC, this is after the dismissal of Brad Trilliving as general manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs. Now look, you've worn a lot of different hats and you've walked in Brad Trillivings shoes before as general manager of this team. Listen, the whisper circles

had been out for a while about this one. Just walk us back in your life when you first started to hear the whispers and then it finally came to fruition that Bradshaw Living was dismissed as general manager. Just some initial thoughts before we drill down. Well, what was odd was when I was fired, I was completely caught by surprise,

which is maybe maybe makes you the dumbest person on the planet, but there had no rumors of my fire at all. And in fact, when I got called in the office, I thought they were firing Brian Kalanjana. I honestly did. I was stunned. I went to the office,

so it was Larry Tannenbaum and Dale Lassman and Tom Anselmi, and no one would look at me. They're all looking at the floor for loose change. I was like, oh, Christ, it's me. So I didn't, I had no idea. This one I think was more evident and they kind of let Brad swing in the wind there a little bit.

I was hopeful that they would look like the Boston Bruins town. They had one bad year after a bunch of good years and give them a chance to fix it but I don't think that was ever meant to happen so they made the change Keith Belly who's a good guy is thinking of a beating for the way it was done but I think that once you made

that decision remember Ken King asked me when I was going to fire a J. Feastry so as soon as they get a chance he said we'll do it today then I remember thinking if I'm going to fire the guy let's get it over it so I think it's all kind of maybe not the way people wanted it done

but I'm a fan of Keith Bellies, even though I agree completely with what was done or how it was done. I'm a fan. You know, the old saying is you don't judge a company by how they welcome you in. You judge a company by how they say goodbye. I don't know that there's a right way

or a good way to fire someone, but does that saying resonate with you? You judge a company by how they say goodbye, not how they say hello. I don't think there's a nice way to fire anyone. Do you have sent me a note and said, what about fire to someone an hour before game time? I'm like, I don't know if there's a good time to fire anyone.

It's a crappy bit of news. The thing people have to realize is people just sluff it off and say, they fire Bradshaw. They're a new GM. I don't realize how disruptive is, how he knows what it is. Even if they think it's coming, it's very embarrassing. I got fired by the lease. I had to wait by the door at my house with my keys in my pocket of my jacket on,

waiting to hear the first league so I'd go tell my daughters. That's the side of the business. It's really awful. Yeah, we get paid well, but there's a crappy side of the business that you saw yesterday. Let's get to Brad here for Living. When you look at his, now, and you can fill us. in on this one because you were there. Like you know the different pressures and the way you're pulled from a lot of different

areas that may not seem obvious to a hockey fan, casual or otherwise. There's a lot of things that are exerted upon you that make that position challenging. Do you have us, can you share a sort of sense of like what, what is it like to be the general manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs? And like how many different, how many different places? of pressure are being placed on you at any given time? Well, it's worse now than it was when I was there because social media wasn't as big when I was there.

Social media was not a new development when I was there, but it was certainly primitive in terms of the numbers and the things that were said. And I think it's way worse, way tougher on a GM now, and you have to ignore all the noise. My view is, and this is not like an excuse, but it's not, my view is that Bradford's absolutely, I'm strong by the no trades and no moves clauses he didn't erred.

I don't think you ever got a chance to fix the team the way he wanted to, given the no trade, no move buzzes, which are death to teams. Here's a lesson for anyone watching this. You don't want to get fired. Don't give out no trade, no moves. The problem is when you're competing with other teams for players, like that could be the difference. Team X over here is offering me a no move clause and you're not.

Like, it's just part of the, it just become a tool in the recruiting process. And other teams, like, the only way I think to get around it is this needs to be collectively bargained out of the league. Otherwise, it's a recruiting advantage. Yeah, they're not going to take a work stop to get that change. No. It's just not going to happen. So that's the test now. They've gotten to a point now where the league and the union get on so well, they get along so well,

you're not going to get a major change without a workstop. So they got the last move was trust code and testing, all the stuff they got rid of them in return for two more games and a new playoff format as far as the salary cap. Those are all significant changes in favor of management. You're not going to get a no trade, no move clause, remove. Just teams need more disciplined applying them. The Pelley Press conference yesterday was interesting. One of the things that has been cited, and it's weird because it's 2026 and, Every team has this department, starting with the team that Keith Pelley oversees, the Toronto Maple Leafs.

He talked a lot about the next hire being a data-centric hire. Now, I think a lot of this comes from what they've done with the soccer team and how they've gone 100% data-focused with all of their management decisions. But they already have that, like with Daryl McCaff and his department. Like, that's never seemed to be a place where the maple leaves have come up shallow or fallen down. Do you understand, can you share with us any idea of what Keith might have been getting at when he said our next hire needs to be someone who has a data-centric point of view or mind? Well, that's the flavor of the day. I think that it's a mistake. I don't think it need to be data-centric.

I need to be data-driven. But your priorities are my priorities for our number one is eyeballs. We're going to watch these players play and evaluate them. We're going to do it the old-fashioned way to start with. That's number one. Number two is research. What is this player made of? For baseball, I talk about makeup.

Talk about the makeup of a player. That's what we spent time. Let's find out what kind of character this guy. Is he a winner? Is he coachable? Is he a good team guy? And that's a lot of testing, a lot of evaluation. Dana Sinclair was my team's psychologist.

And that's number two. And then number three is data, which verifies or corroborative. it's a lot of your picks or tells you no, don't do it. So the data has always been there. It's always been important to me since it came in. I remember when I first came in, I thought this was a joke, and then I realized what Mike Keenan told me years ago was true. The data part of the business is like a ramp post to the drunk,

useful for support, but not necessarily for illumination. Not going to pick your players in front of a computer. It's just not done. It's not smart. the idea being that I don't think anyone's going to disagree with identifying players with your eyeballs. Like that seems like an obvious one. We all do that's why we employ scouts. That's why scouts are employed.

And that's we all watch the games. But then, and I remember you told me this once, you said something along the lines of what you were just saying. And then I go to the analytics group to see if my eyes are lying to me. because their eyes always lie to us. So that was something that always stuck with me. Identify with the eyes, but then check with the analytics to make sure my eyes aren't lying to me. That one really resonated with me, Berkey.

Always did. Yeah, it's true. It's true. You say the guy as fastest, I remember talking to Ned Coletti. He was a great baseball executive. Ed Coletti's saying, I said this guy is really fast out of the box.

And he said he's the 14th fastest guy. we were looking at for the draft this year. I remember thinking, 14th fascist. I thought it was the fastest. When the appearance does, the appearances do deceive, they do lie,

and that's why analytics are important. But analysts can knock as many draft picks out of the box as they put it in the box. And if it's your sole factor, sole judgment factor, in my opinion, it's a mistake. I remember one general manager who does have an analytics,

slant to him telling me we were having some conversation. I was bringing up some analytics analogy and he said, yeah, you know what? That works for a while, but then you have to play the game. I'll tell you what, there's one place that I find, just as a sidebar on this conversation, Berkey. I can recall, I've told you this story before. There is one NHL team that passed up or passed over drafting Braden Point because he had a bad force plate result at the combine. And that's the area where I look at, and I say, I remember at the draft that you know, the

Western Scouts like banging the tables, like, you got to take point. No, bad, bad force plate. We're not going to take them. And they passed up on obviously one of the best, you know, centers in that draft, one of the best centers in this era because he didn't have a good force plate result at the combine. Like, that's the one area that I look at. And outside of players and seeing where they're, you know, sort of predetermined for injury

or predisposed for injury, that's the one area. that's the one area where I really strain to get helpful information. It's not analytics. I mean, all analytics is measuring the game. And there's different language for measuring the game. One of the problems that I've always had is making a lot of your decisions based on what you see at the combine. Well, I think it's a big mistake. I mean, the last time I spoke at the Sloan Analytics Conference was why I made my comment about the Lamp Post.

That was that. They didn't like that. They didn't like that. Someone said it's not how you pick players. It's one of the tools you employ, but it's not how you pick players. I think from looking at the Minnesota Twins modified their structure from going with pure analytics. They went to a tacos and beer, I think, is what they call it.

Instead of going for a filet mignon and getting a guy with every pick that's perfect analytically, a goal for guys. It might not be perfect analytically, but do things. things well and have a good team approach. And they went to tacos and beer, I think they called it. But I've studied all these things. I looked at it. I made my scouts all read Moneyball when it first came out.

I bought 20 copies of it, gave it to all of them. So we've been on the forefront of it, but not on the front burner of it. There's a big difference. You can pay attention to analyze them. It doesn't have to be the end-all and be all of how you draft. So I look at this Maple Leafs team and say to myself, Berkey, so much of what they're going to do next depends on does Austin Matthews want to stay? Does Austin Matthews want to leave?

If Matthews looks at this and Keith Pelley and whomever the next general manager is can present a scenario to show Matthews how this thing can turn around quickly. To your point, Berkey, one year of Boston Bruins, right back, right back. back at it competing for playoff spots. If they can show Matthews that they have a path for that, he probably stays. If not, then I think all bets are off. Do you agree with that? Yes, I think it's 90% true. I think Austin Matthews is a loyal guy.

I don't know him well. I know him to say hello to. But he strikes me as a very loyal guy. He's not going to leave unless he has a damn good reason to leave. And that's got the team's got a lot of control over that. I think how they handle kneelanders and that. step for me about his full no trade normal way they have to approach him at some point and say what do you want to do as well would you reopen the movie my guess is he would because it's no

fun missing the playoffs what they went through this year is no fun for a team spent a pass for what eight straight years seven whatever it is yeah uh so if you're the maple leaf sand what is the first order. The new general manager gets installed. Keith Pelley talked about late May, maybe early June for the new manager in time for the combine, the draft, free agency, all of that. First of all, I don't know if you have any names in mind, but what should the first order of business be for the new manager? There will only be about 7 million people that apply for that job. Yeah, it's one of the four million. Four million in Canada, Berkey. Every single person is a general

manager in this country, you know that. I know. And it's a great thing about working in Canada is there will be a million people want this job. It pays very well. It's a whoever gets it right, like I said in my press conference, whoever gets it right, they're going to name schools after it, not streets, schools, the big deal. And whoever gets it right, everyone's a cup with the chairman, the least one in a cup,

they're going to name schools after him or her. So I think that the first order of business is to hire a GM. They're going to have a million people that apply, and some of them are going to be very qualified, and some of them are not. They're going to get this right, I believe. I think Keith Pelley's a smart man. You can make fun of his press comments all you want.

Sure, there's things he'd like to say differently. But I don't know Keith, since I worked at TSN, he's a good guy. I think he'll get it right, and they'll finally get it right in Calgary and Toronto. You know, it's a fascinating team and a fascinating market. The other question now becomes, and maybe this is just a question for when the new manager is installed and it becomes their decision. What happens to Craig Barubi here? And I'll couch it in one specific way. You may have been on a plane for this and I'm sure whether you're already in Australia.

But Saturday, the Leafs were in St. Louis, right? The height of, you know, Craig Barubi's career, the Stanley Cup, still loved in the city, you know, that team and that run changed his life forever and all the Maple Leafs could muster were 13 shots. Like it was, it was a pretty insulting performance by that collection of players. What do you do with Barubi through all of this? Or is this just the manager is going to decide? I think the manager is going to decide, but I think there's no question that was disappointing.

That group is disappointing. that group of players has to change. I'm not big on throwing players under the bus. They can fire a tree if they want. They can make a coaching change if they want. The end of the day, the players are responsible for a coaching change or a GM change. The ultimate failure is the players now.

It's the players that you brought in if you're the GM. But the notion that they let this guy down like they did with those performances is disturbing. So in my mind is it's time probably to move on in people's minds and Leafland move on with the coach. He'll be out of work for about 30 seconds, folks. Let me ask about another hot button topic around Leafland this week. I'm not sure because I'm not sure what your schedule is

and how much you're staying on top of watching games at 1 o'clock in the morning. But the Max Domi Radco-Guda's fight. Not so much from Max's point of view because someone was going to fight from Toronto's point of view. But just the fact that Radco Gudis said, look, I'm hurt, but I'm playing in this game, essentially because I need to answer for my actions. Like, I think Radco Gudas came out of this game looking really good. There's a code, as we all know.

I got to pay for it. I got to stand in there and take my licks for what I did. I got to make myself accountable. Max Domi wins the fight. Radco Gudas didn't even try to throw a punch. and then at the end, you know, did the slip on a banana peel routine and the fight's over. But I thought Goudis came out of that thing looking really good. He knew he made a mistake and he stood up and he made himself accountable.

Yeah, I'm not sure the code has written out in that created detail. I'm not sure to exist in all cases anymore. But if you go back to the old throwback code, yes, he did the right thing. Yeah, he owed it, he had to pay a stab. He knew he had to pay his stab, whether it was max. Stowe me or someone else. Could have been Steve Lerick's. Could have been anybody.

But he paid his stab and took his beating and went to the back of the line. It was fine. I thought it was all good. He's a warrior. People hate Radco Goose, but I would have on my team tomorrow. Yeah. And a lot of teams have agreed with that. Let me ask you about John Todorella.

Takes over, and he's 1 in the Vancouver Canucks a couple nights ago. Your thoughts on that situation? I think it caught a lot of people by surprise on Sunday when Bruce Cassidy was relieved. And then the second bomb was John Tudorella back in the NHL. Now it's for the remainder of the season and the playoffs, however long the Vegas Golden Knights go. But how did you see all of that on Sunday, Berkey? Well, I was shocked because I think Bush Cassidy is one of the best coaches in the last 10 years.

I mean, he's – Bush Cassidy has a very interesting pass because you got a job early and failed. And I'm stuck in the minors for about 10 years. Same with Mike Sullivan. So went to the miners, paid their dues, got a chance back. He's emerged as a top coach. I'm pretty sure I saw him in the Olympics coaching. I'm pretty sure I saw him.

So you're a good coach. Now he got him and another guy named DeVore out there on waiting. So there's an unprecedented list of top guys available right now. That's going to be the move. I think you've got to get it. on top of it if you're the leaps. If you're going to stall this thing, if one of those guys is your candidate,

you miss out because you stalled this search. That's going to be a big black mark. So with Torch, Torch, I was shocked to see Bush Cassidy get fired. I think he's the top guy. I think John Torrell is a great coach. He's a great guy. I've worked with him three

different times in the World Championships, the Olympics of Vancouver and in the World Cup. I love the guy. He's a big, hearty guy. He's a lot of misconceptions about John Tortorella, but I'm not sure about this one. I'm not sure it makes sense. Not because of torts,

because the guy they're fired is a pretty damn good coach. You know, Tortorella is a fascinating guy, and in this era of hockey, he really is a unique personality. First of all, I like dealing with John. I mean, you've dealt with him on a team basis, which is a lot more profound than me just having a conversation with him as part of media. But I've always found every conversation really enjoyable.

I know he loves dogs. That's big. And listen, any military family, and his son is like whites of the eyes. When he gets deployed, it's not somewhere in the background. It's right up front. I got a lot of respect for those families and a lot of respect for the Tortoella family because of it. And I know it's hard. And I know there have been moments

where it's been really hard, even just to coach a game. But John's always done it. I got a lot of work for him. Not just the military family. Nick is was. He's retired now. He's moved up. He's still in the military, I believe. But he was

the Navy Army Ranger, which is the equivalent of a Navy seal. And Nick would kill me for saying, I misspoken said Navy. An Army Ranger to put one of the seal. This guy's done it all. And he has.

I wanted to talk to Torts and to see him before a game and see if actually if Danny Sedina was sorry because he got hurt. And he said after the game was when he went in the dressing room,

sorry, went in the dressing room and went after a Calgary Plains player after Brian McGratt and went in after all that. And I said to him afterwards. He just found out

that day where Nick was going to be deployed. They don't tell them. They just said, you're being deployed. And never tell you where you were going in the sandbox. They just tell you you're going. You don't know if you're going to Iraq. You don't know if you're going to Iran now. You don't know if you're going to wherever you're going overseas.

But you're being deployed. He just found that out. He was tight as a piano wire. And I said, no, after what's telling me you that towards? He snapped and went in the room. So I'm not telling him anything. That's my business. So he's a good man, he's a good coach.

I just, I'm not sure this timing makes sense. I'm not sure the fits there. We'll find out the hard way. That story was the Vancouver Calgary Brawl, and there were a lot of people that were saying, like, John, you don't have to coach today. I know. You don't have to do it.

And John was like, no, I'm coaching. I'm coached. I cannot imagine, as a father, Burki, you're a father. I cannot imagine that feeling. I cannot imagine that feeling. We were in Toronto. with the World Cup. So I wanted to talk to Torts.

And he said, is your daughter are your daughter's here? And I said, yeah. He said, bring him in here right now. He's getting ready for a game. And all I want to talk to Marin and Gracie, who are like, well, that's awesome. Hey, how are your girls doing? How's your dad?

Unbelievable. Listen, we'll either let you start your day or go back to bed. Whichever you choose, there's no wrong answer. Thanks so much for stopping by Going back to bed, Jeff. Ata boy. Snuggle up.

Snuggle up, Birky. And listen, I know you're there to see your daughter. I hope you guys are having a great time. And we'll look forward to having you back on when you're back in North America. Thanks, pal. Okay. Thanks.