‘Five Forwards Is Tricky’: Why The Maple Leafs Are Veering Away From The All-Forward Power Play Experiment

Morgan Rielly was placed back on the first power play unit at practice on Saturday morning.

The Toronto Maple Leafs’ experiment with a five-forward power play unit hit a roadblock during their 6-3 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday, and it seems the team is rethinking its approach.

At the start of the second period of that game, the Leafs gave up a short-handed goal while operating with five forwards on the man advantage, and head coach Craig Berube spoke candidly about the situation following the loss.

“We could have defended it, to be honest with you," said Berube post-game. "I think that, you know, we actually track back. We've got to be harder there in the neutral zone on that play. And, you know, the guy's on his backhand. We just got to take away the pass. That's it. I mean, yeah, there's always going to be concerns with five forwards on the power play at times."

Albeit the unit made up for it not even a minute later with an Auston Matthews highlight-reel goal to tie the game, 3-3, but the defensive lapses have raised some eyebrows.

At practice on Saturday morning ahead of the club’s meeting with the Vancouver Canucks, it seems that the Leafs are re-evaluating the use of the five-forward look, reverting to their more traditional power play look, with defenseman Morgan Rielly returning to the top unit.

This change essentially broke up the five-forward setup, moving Matthew Knies back to the second unit alongside Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Max Pacioretty/Nick Robertson, Max Domi, and Bobby McMann – for the time being. 

The club likely won’t veer away from the setup entirely, not after the unit virtually scored two goals (though only one counted due to the timing) against the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday and essentially won them the game. 

However, the five-forward unit should be seen as a high-risk, high-reward strategy that can leave them vulnerable on the defensive side of the puck. With the setup, opposing teams recognize the lack of a defensive presence and are quick to pounce on those opportunities, as seen in Carolina.

When asked about the experiment after the on-ice session on Saturday, Berube remained open to adjustments. Despite the ups and downs, the bench boss was clear that the team would continue to try new things.

“I think it's working. I think our (power play) percentage has gone up quite a bit from the start of the year,” Berube explained. “Now, listen, I told you guys before, I'm not opposed to always doing something different on it."

“Like, five forwards is tricky,” Berube said. “And, you know, teams are going to look at that and they're going to attack all the time on it. That's going to be their mindset to penalty kill. And it's not that I don't like five forwards. They move the puck well in the zone and do some real good things. I don't like when it goes the other way,” he added.

While the five-forward power play experiment has had its share of successes, Berube sees value in moving players around to find the best fit, believing that such adjustments can lead to better opportunities and, more importantly, better results.

“It's not a bad thing to move people around and find new spots for them. And it frees up some guys a little bit more. So it's, you know, I've done this before. I don't think it's a bad thing,” Berube explained.

There is potential upside to the five-forward approach. The drawback, however, is that without a defenseman on the unit, the team is often exposed to the counterattack, as seen in the short-handed goal allowed to the Hurricanes and on the man advantage against Philadelphia before opting to switch personnel around.

As Berube mentioned, he’s not afraid to move pieces around but finding the right balance will be the key to any consistency.