TORONTO — Toronto Maple Leafs general manager Brad Treliving says he “fully” supports head coach Craig Berube as the team finds itself in last place in the NHL’s Atlantic Division.

Treliving addressed the media hours before the Maple Leafs hosted the Pittsburgh Penguins, and a day after the team fired assistant coach Marc Savard.

“I want to make it clear: I support Craig fully,” Treliving said. “When you go through tough stretches, whether it be the coach, the manager, that’s part of the business.”

The GM says there is no “disconnect” between Berube and his players.

“We all have to be better, we all recognize that, but I think we’ve got a real good coach,” Treliving said. “We’ve got to just continue to work together, with the players, and find our way out of it.”

He also said the Leafs’ current struggles, on the power play and in general, aren’t solely the fault of Savard.

“We need to be better in that area,” Treliving said. “It falls on all of us, coaches, management, everybody, in all facets of our game to be better.”

Savard, 48, was hired by the Leafs in June 2024, when Berube was brought in as head coach. He was an assistant under Berube in St. Louis for the 2019-20 season.

Toronto had lost five of its last six games for a 15-15-5 record heading into the afternoon contest with the Penguins.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 23, 2025.