Treliving on where Pacioretty, Hakanpaa and Robertson stand ahead of Leafs camp

Maple Leafs general manager Brad Treliving expects veteran winger Max Pacioretty, who will attend Toronto's training camp on a pro tryout, to be on the roster when the regular season begins. 

"We'll see where everything goes, but my expectation is he's going to be with us," Treliving said during an impromptu meeting with the media at the team's rookie camp.

Slowed by a pair of Achilles tears, Pacioretty has suited up in just 91 games in the last three seasons. He scored four goals in 47 games with the Washington Capitals last year. 

Treliving revealed the Leafs brought Pacioretty to Toronto about a month ago to undergo a medical exam. 

"He was very open," Treliving said. "He got on the ice for us, and just seeing where he was at."

Pacioretty didn't make his season debut until January last year.

"He feels that he's had a couple of years here, two and a half years, where he really hasn't had an opportunity to train," Treliving noted. "It's been rehabbing. He came back last year and jumped in sort of halfway through the season and at the end of the year felt he wasn't where he wanted to be physically."

A full summer of training and not just rehabbing makes Pacioretty a prime candidate for a bounce-back season, Treliving believes. 

Prior to the injuries, Pacioretty had established himself as a consistent scorer in the NHL with six 30-goal campaigns on his resume. But the former Montreal Canadiens captain is nearing the end of his career and will turn 36 in November. 

"Sometimes we want to write everybody off once they hit 30," Treliving, 55, said with a chuckle. "I must have been written off a long time ago. But we'll see. The encouraging thing with Max is he keeps himself in really good condition. He's had time to heal. Those are significant injuries that he's gone through and he's put a lot of time into getting himself healthy."

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Pacioretty's addition will make it tougher for Toronto's younger players to earn spots. That includes Nick Robertson, who signed a one-year deal worth $875,000 this week after requesting a trade at the start of the summer. 

"I've got a good relationship with Nick," Treliving stressed. "We talked throughout the summer and you just explain it, 'Here's the situation. Everybody's got to earn their stripes.'" 

Robertson, who celebrated his 23rd birthday this week, has expressed frustration in the past about the lack of opportunity in Toronto. As one of the few waiver-exempt players on the team, he's bounced between the minors and the NHL the last couple seasons. The 5-foot-9 winger has never started a season on the Leafs roster. 

Robertson now requires waivers to be sent down and will be playing for a new coach in Craig Berube.  

"It's a fresh, clean state with a new coach," Treliving pointed out. "New opportunity. I know the last couple days he's been here, he's excited, and I'm looking forward to seeing him."

Robertson, who made his NHL debut in the bubble playoffs way back in 2020, scored 14 goals in 56 games last season while averaging 11 minutes and 23 seconds of ice time. Only Auston Matthews (1.84 goals per 60 minutes) scored at a higher rate than Robertson (1.33) in 5-on-5 play last season. 

"I like Nick," Treliving said. "He shoots it in the net. But you gotta do other things too. You gotta round out your game. You've got to be a complete player." 

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Easton Cowan is another young forward looking to steal a roster spot at training camp. 

"He's a competitive kid," said Treliving. "He's had a great summer. He's had a short summer. He played late and started early with the Canadian junior team [summer] camp." 

Cowan was named the Ontario Hockey League's most outstanding player last season. He added MVP honours in the playoffs while leading the London Knights to an OHL title. 

"Competitive, dog on a bone," Treliving noted. "Really good player. But he's a young player too."

Cowan turned 19 in May and, despite growing a bit in the summer, is still a shade under six feet. 

"You want to make sure you're putting him in position to succeed and not rushing the process," Treliving said. "He's excited to get going this week, and he'll be excited at camp. And that's why you go through the exhibition and training camp, and we'll see where he's at when the big boys show up."

Cowan is taking part in rookie camp this week, which will conclude with a pair of games against Canadiens prospects at the Bell Centre over the weekend. 

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When free agency opened, TSN's hockey insiders reported that the Leafs planned to sign Jani Hakanpaa to a two-year deal. When he spoke with the media on Canada Day, Treliving himself brought up the 6-foot-7 defenceman when asked about the new additions. But the signing didn't become official until this week when Hakanpaa inked a one-year, $1.47-million pact. 

"It's been a whole summer project," Treliving acknowledged. 

Hakanpaa missed the end of last season due to a knee injury, which led to questions about his longterm health. 

"We had Jani in town here earlier in the summer for a bit of time," Treliving revealed. "Our performance staff went out there [to Finland] two or three times. It was him going through his rehab. We're obviously to a point where he and us feel confident, and we'll see how it goes." 

Hakanpaa gives the Leafs another right-shot option on the back end and is expected to bolster a penalty-kill unit that finished 23rd overall last season. 

"There's certainly always risk with any person coming off an injury, but he's put in a lot of work really since he had surgery," said Treliving. "He had a scope on his knee I think in March, went through sort of healing and then rehab, but he's doing well. And now we'll get our hands on him on an every-day basis and kind of see where it goes."

Treliving is pleased with how the team's new-look defence is coming into focus. Chris Tanev and Oliver Ekman-Larsson were also added in free agency. 

"There's a little bit of everything," Treliving said. "You got puck moving, you got guys that can play on the power play, you got guys that can penalty kill, you got lefties, you got righties. So, yeah, it all feels great. It's September. We'll see how it looks and go from there."

The Leafs will officially open training camp on Wednesday with the first on-ice sessions set for Thursday.