Treliving will get help grading the Leafs from former Flames

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Brad Treliving will not experience flying blind in Toronto.

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He is quite familiar with two players the new general manager is expected to lean heavily on when assessing where the Maple Leafs are and need to be.

Defense attorneys Mark Giordano and TJ Brodie were both in Calgary when Treliving arrived there as GM in 2014, and he and Giordano were particularly close. It’s a well-known story that a few years ago in the Seattle Kraken expansion draft, Treliving resented leaving Giordano unprotected, but the latter recognized the situation the boss was being thrown into by the salary cap and advised him on whether it was best for the team is to expose him, then go ahead.

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The Leafs acquired Giordano from Seattle last season, while Brodie was Giordano’s partner on the ice for many seasons. Brodie’s 10-year association with the Flames ended in 2020 when he signed with Toronto as a free agent.

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Both players are signed for next season.

“It’s nice to see that Gio is still playing at 75,” said Treliving. “I was with them for a long time, they are good men, good players, good people, they have good families.

“I texted a bit with Gio and it will be good to get in touch with him. There’s a couple of guys here (he knows them in Toronto), Luke Schenn, that I kind of have a relationship with.”

Treliving places great importance on building a strong bond with even the most anonymous squad members.

“Getting to know the players is the most important thing,” he said. “I get close to the people I work with. You don’t manage from an office. Some maybe (but) you have to know what drives them. You stand side by side with them.

“I’m very protective of my players, but this can’t just be about the Core Four. This is about the Leafs, not four, not three, not two, but 23 guys.”

lhornby@postmedia.com