Craig Berube on Morgan Rielly’s reduced offensive impact this season: “We’ve been trying to get our D more active lately, and it’s been better… I think you’ll see his production go up a little bit”

Ahead of Monday’s game against Tampa Bay, head coach Craig Berube discussed the changes on the defense pairings, inserting Fraser Minten into the lineup, Morgan Rielly’s play this season, Joseph Woll’s workload, his relationship with William Nylander, and the challenge against the Lightning.

Morning Skate Lines – Jan. 20

Lines at Leafs skate

Knies – Matthews – Marner
McMann – Holmberg – Nylander
Domi – Minten – Robertson
Dewar – Kampf – Lorentz
Reaves

Rielly – McCabe
Ekman-Larsson – Tanev
Benoit – Timmins
Hakanpää, Myers

Woll starts
Hildeby @TSN_Edge

— Mark Masters (@markhmasters) January 20, 2025

What is the word on Max Pacioretty?

Berube: Upper-body right now, so he is out. No (timeline) yet; just day-to-day right now.

You had a good run out of Jake McCabe-Chris Tanev. What went into the different look with the defense pairings?

Berube: When McCabe was out and OEL was playing with Tanev, they were good together. They like playing together. McCabe played on the right side last year quite a bit here in Toronto. We are going to try him with Morgan.

Morgan has had a lot of partners this year. It is not his fault or anybody’s fault. It is how things go with injuries and finding the right shot to play over there. McCabe has experience. He is a very good player and defender. That is what we are looking for tonight.

How big of a challenge has it been to get Morgan Rielly to play the type of hockey you know he is capable of playing?

Berube: Coming in, with the way we wanted to play and do things defensively to become a better defensive hockey team that can keep the puck out of our net, we have asked him for less risk in his game. He is trying to do that and has done that, for the most part, but we also need him to produce offensively.

In trying to get our D a little bit more active, lately, I think it has been better in the offensive zone. Shooting more pucks and getting more pucks to the net has been a focus lately, and it has been better.

I think you’ll see his production go up a little bit.

You spoke about the process of reducing risk in Rielly’s game, but as a team, where do you think the process of reducing risk and improving the defensive play stands right now?

Berube: I think it is going. There are ebbs and flows throughout the year where you are giving up too much or not scoring enough. We want to find that balance.

I think we are in a pretty good spot with the balance. We have to defend well. We have to make sure we are playing smart hockey with the puck. Puck management, for me, is everything — not making risky plays all the time and turning pucks over. We have been doing a good job of that.

I have been happy with our team and the directness of how they play. It is a new way for them to try to figure out how to score goals. That is our job as coaches — to help them — but I feel our scoring and chances for are starting to come up a bit with our offensive zone play and rush play.

We just have to keep building on it, but we can’t lose our identity of what we want to be. We want to be a hard team to play against defensively and do a good job of not giving up inner slot chances. We have to stay on it.

We are in a good spot, but we have to keep improving. That is the focus.

Why was now the right time to get Simon Benoit back in the lineup?

Berube: Benny sat a couple of games. It talked to him about his game and the things he has to do a little bit better. It is more of a reset for him.

He is an important guy for us, as I’ve said. He is a good penalty killer and a hard guy to play against. He is a physical player.

He is going to be an important piece for us tonight, and I wanted to switch out him and Myers. It is a little bit of a rotation right now.

Is it a sign of trust to put Fraser Minten back in the lineup?

Berube: I like the player. Patches went out, and he is a guy who has played up here. He is a smart player. I put him in the middle of the ice. I have trust in him.

How much do you discuss managing Joseph Woll’s workload with the medical and sports science staff?

Berube: Quite a bit, actually, as well as the goalie coach. He has played a lot of games. He is coming up on playing the most games he has played.

He feels like he is in a good spot. A lot of it is based on how the goalie feels and how he is looking in practice. We just have to manage it and manage the practices with him, too.

He is a hard-working guy. He puts a lot into his game with preparation and practice. Sometimes, you have to pull those guys back a little bit. We need him in the games.

Your predecessor spent a lot of time trying to figure out William Nylander. When you see his last two games and then the five before those, where are you at in terms of figuring out who and what Nylander is?

Berube: That is a tough question. I have a lot of conversations with Willy, which I enjoy. A great guy to talk to and listen to.

More than anything, I always want Willy to open up to me and tell me what he thinks and feels about the game and what we can do better. He has a lot of great ideas. I may not agree with them all, but I want to hear them. There is something there that I might learn. These guys are smart guys and smart players.

It is a challenge, like any player. You would like to get the game he played in Montreal every night, but that is not reality. He has the capability of doing it. His edge work, puck play, and competitiveness on puck offensively are high-end. He is a very good player.

It is always a challenge to try to get these guys to be more consistent every night. That is the coach’s job. It is not just Willy. It is every player.

As I said, I try to have conversations with him daily. I really do. I am not trying to figure him out. I am trying to hear him out more than anything.

This is a tough league for head coaches to achieve longevity in their role. What stands out about Jon Cooper in this regard?

Berube: He has done a great job. We all know he is a great coach. Coop is very good at the mental side of things with his players. He does a really good job of keeping everybody motivated.

He is not changing his style year to year, but he is tweaking it a little bit and giving them a little bit more life with something new. He does a great job with that side of things as a coach.

He has good relationships with everybody over there. That is really important. That is how you last a lot longer, but he is there because he is successful every year (laughs). That is why he is there. That is what it boils down to, for the most part.

Great coach. We all know that. I know Coop personally and have really enjoyed being around him. It is always a challenge against his teams.

What is the biggest challenge against this Lightning team?

Berube: We all know they can score goals, but they defend hard and their goalie is really good, and they compete.

This is a competitive team. They win a lot of battles — a lot of puck battles — and that sticks out to me more than anything. I get that they have high-end players and can make plays, but it is the battle level and the effort that they put in every shift that stand out to me.