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Brad Treliving defended the Toronto Maple Leafs\u2019 approach to sports science following criticism the team faced, in a story published Thursday by The Athletic,<\/em>\u00a0over a key personnel decision.<\/p>\n In the story, Jeremy Bettle \u2014 a former director of sports science and performance with the Leafs \u2014 criticized the team for its decision not to fill the vacant director of high performance role when Rich Rotenberg left to join the Pittsburgh Penguins last summer.<\/p>\n The Leafs general manager reached out Thursday morning, as fans and league observers reacted to the story online, and said that the team, even if it hasn\u2019t hired someone with the same title, has addressed the vacancy through\u00a0the redistribution of duties and other staff additions.<\/p>\n \u201cYou guys get wrapped up in one guy\u2019s fancy title,\u201d Treliving said. \u201cI don\u2019t get wrapped up in titles. I get wrapped up in people doing the jobs.\u201d<\/p>\n The Athletic<\/em> asked Treliving and the Maple Leafs for comment multiple times over three days prior to publishing the original story, which noted the team said it had bolstered its medical and training staff through other hires this season, adding an additional assistant strength and conditioning coach, an assistant dietitian and a third assistant athletic therapist, as well as consultants in mental health and mental performance.<\/p>\n Treliving said Thursday morning that the Leafs \u201cmoved somebody in that role\u201d rather than hiring a replacement at the director level for Rotenberg, who took over for Bettle in 2019.<\/p>\n Treliving said Trevor Bartoli was promoted to assistant strength coach and performance coordinator from his previous role as a roving strength and conditioning coach. Treliving said Bartoli\u2019s duties had expanded to include coordinating the schedule and assisting in the return-to-play process for players returning from injury.<\/p>\n Treliving said the team swapped what was an \u201cadministrative\u201d role for one that favoured a more hands-on approach with players.<\/p>\n \u201cI would think having more people working on the players is better for it,\u201d he said. \u201cI would say we\u2019ve got the largest number of people working on players. I haven\u2019t gone out and asked all the other teams, but if we don\u2019t have the largest (staff in the NHL), we\u2019re right there \u2014 hands on, working on injuries, working on rehab, doing everything for prevention.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd you could have a thousand people, people are going to get hurt when you\u2019re playing this many games.\u201d<\/p>\n Asked why the Leafs couldn\u2019t have both an additional assistant strength coach and a replacement for Rotenberg, Treliving responded, \u201cWe do have both. We\u2019ve got a coordinator that coordinates all that too.\u201d<\/p>\n Leafs players have expressed missing Rotenberg this season.<\/p>\n \u201cObviously a guy that I miss,\u201d William Nylander told reporters in November after seeing Rotenberg when the Leafs faced the Penguins.\u00a0 \u201cHe did a lot of things behind the scenes for the players, making sure they\u2019re feeling good and stuff. He\u2019s for sure missed.\u201d<\/p>\n Treliving said the Leafs also have a robust data department, including a large group dedicated to sports science, such as the tracking of player workloads using Catapult technology.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve brought in support people underneath\u201d Paul Ayotte, who leads the medical staff. \u201cI think what you\u2019re getting lost in is you see somebody with a title and saying we didn\u2019t replace that position.\u201d<\/p>\n Treliving took issue with Bettle\u2019s contention that the lack of a director-level performance position, someone \u201cwith domain knowledge in that impartial position leading the department,\u201d had led to more injuries.<\/p>\n \u201cYou cannot have injury-free seasons the way they\u2019re currently set up,\u201d Bettle said in the original story.<\/p>\n Treliving said Bettle had not worked for the team in years and wasn\u2019t privy to what went on behind the scenes.<\/p>\n \u201cIt has nothing to do with the staff,\u201d he said. \u201cTo insinuate that in the article is erroneous. It\u2019s false.\u201d<\/p>\n In the original story, Bettle conceded, \u201cYou never know what\u2019s going on inside a club.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m not blaming the staff,\u201d Bettle said. \u201cI\u2019m blaming the structure. It\u2019s just not set up for them not to have injuries.\u201d<\/p>\n Treliving believes the main cause for the Leafs\u2019 nearly 200 man-games lost to injury is the schedule, condensed to squeeze in a break for the Olympics.<\/p>\n He cited leaguewide data, which he said pointed to a 42 percent increase in the number of players placed on injured reserve from the period of Oct. 1, 2025 until Jan. 28, 2026 as compared with the same period the previous season.<\/p>\n \u201cIt looks like there\u2019s a lot more injuries happening in the league,\u201d Treliving said. \u201cThe schedule plays a factor in it; not that the Maple Leafs have cut their sports science department.\u201d<\/p>\n Treliving said the Leafs are spending more money on sports science this season than they did in his two previous seasons as GM, and that he heard from players all the time, saying they had never had better treatment than with the Leafs.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve got a plethora of people to handle the needs of the players,\u201d Treliving said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n