The Toronto Maple Leafs came into the season with a lot of hype surrounding the changes they've made, but it hasn't worked out as planned according to Craig Berube.
This summer, the Toronto Maple Leafs made a lot of changes including bringing in a new defensive grouping, naming Auston Matthews captain, and hiring a new head coach in Craig Berube. A lot of speculation came about about how Berube would implement his style of play with the Maple Leafs, and he even brought along former assistant head coach Marc Savard to help him with his powerplay units.
So it's perplexing to see the Maple Leafs being left off the scoresheet thus far on the powerplay, going 0-for-9 so far in this young season. With all the talent employed on their special teams units, it's surprising to see they haven't put the puck in the net. It feels like something needs to change, something Craig Berube touched on after Toronto's 4-2 win over Pittsburgh on Saturday night:
"So far, it has been stagnant," Berube said post-game. "We all know that. We were just moving some guys around tonight, trying to find a spark with something different. I thought it got better in the third. There were some opportunities, but we have to get to work on it."
Stagnant is the perfect description of the Maple Leafs powerplay, feeling like a stale rehash of Sheldon Keefe's system as opposed to a new one under Berube. Stacking the top line with Matthews, Marner, Nylander, Rielly, and Knies is great on paper but hasn't led to any results.
Going with four forwards is fine at some points but a switch back to a traditional unit with two defenders might be of interest to the Maple Leafs. Toronto also signed Oliver Ekman-Larsson this summer, and him being such a powerplay wizard throughout his career it might be in Berube's interest to try him out on the first line. Just some type of different look from the Maple Leafs would allow others to contribute as opposed to heavily relying on your superstars; it hasn't worked yet and early season is the best time to experiment.
For Craig Berube and the Toronto Maple Leafs, winning two in a row is a good start to the season, but if they aren't able to do something different to change their powerplay woes; it could be a long season regardless of the results.
