Leafs blueliner T.J. Brodie sees a lot of Kyle Dubas in Brad Treliving

Maple Leafs defenceman T.J. Brodie says he and his teammates were as surprised as anyone else by the news that Kyle Dubas would no longer be the team’s general manager.

“We had the same reaction as most people, a little surprised to hear that Kyle was moving on,” Brodie told the Star in a phone interview on Tuesday. “I talked to a couple of guys and everyone was sort of just wondering what’s going to happen next.”

What happened next — hiring former Flames GM Brad Treliving last Wednesday — put Brodie’s mind at ease. He and teammate Mark Giordano played for Treliving in Calgary.

“He’s great guy,” Brodie said of the Leafs’ new GM. “I thought he did a good job in Calgary when I was there. It’s one of those things where we’ll see what happens here.”

Treliving and Leafs president Brendan Shanahan said they would reach out to players in the aftermath of the announcement. The likes of Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner have had those conversations, but not the low-maintenance Brodie. At least not yet.

“I wasn’t talked to at all,” said Brodie. “Obviously there’s lots of chatter. Whenever a new guy comes in, he wants to go make the team his own, I guess. So, it’s just sort of waiting in the wings to see.”

Plenty of change is afoot with the Leafs. There is trade speculation every day, and 10 players will become unrestricted free agents.

“I’ve learned through the years, there’s no point in worrying about stuff that you can’t control,” said Brodie, back home and working out in the Chatham area. “My job now is to get ready for next year and stay in shape and go out there and play hockey. Whatever else happens, it’s out of my hands.”

It doesn’t seem to bother the veteran defenceman that he’s heading into the last season of a four-year, $20-million (U.S.) contract. Like Matthews and William Nylander, Brodie will be eligible to sign an extension on July 1.

“If (Treliving) comes to me and wants to talk, I’ll be open, obviously,” said Brodie. “But I’m not going to worry too much about it. There’s still a lot of other things that I have to worry about.”

Treliving endeared himself to the defenceman the day Brodie suffered a seizure on the ice during a Flames practice, early in the 2019-20 season. He had to be taken to hospital, and Treliving was with him. Brodie was checked out and released quickly, and has had no lingering effects.

“He is an easy guy to talk to,” said Brodie. “When I had the incident at that practice, he was right there offering to help. It’s the little things, I guess.”

Dubas, now president of hockey operations with the Pittsburgh Penguins, was cut from the same cloth in terms of caring for players. Dubas stayed with Ilya Mikheyev in a New Jersey hospital when the forward’s arm was slashed by a skate during a game.

“They both care about how guys are doing — on and off the ice, with their families,” said Brodie. “If there’s any issues, they’re right there to help. There’s a lot of similarities.”

Kevin McGran is a Star sports reporter based in Toronto. Follow him on Twitter: @kevin_mcgran