After Monday’s practice, head coach Craig Berube discussed OEL and Mitch Marner’s absences from practice and Morgan Rielly’s 2024-25 season.
Practice Lines – Feb. 3
Note: It was a maintenance day for Mitch Marner
Lines at Leafs practice
Knies – Matthews – Domi
Pacioretty – Tavares – Nylander
McMann – Holmberg – Robertson
Lorentz – Kampf – ReavesMcCabe – Tanev
Rielly – Myers
Benoit – Timmins
MermisWoll & Stolarz
at CGY tomorrow
Absent: Marner, Ekman-Larsson@TSN_Sports
— Mark Masters (@markhmasters) February 3, 2025
What is the outlook for Oliver Ekman-Larsson?
Berube: We’ll have to see tomorrow. Right now, it is a maintenance day. He stayed off the ice — him and Mitch. We will see how he is tomorrow.
Is there a chance Mitch Marner could miss Tuesday’s game?
Berube: Not necessarily. Again, we will see how they are tomorrow.
Why did you decide to shift Max Domi up into Marner’s spot in practice?
Berube: I just wanted to see him up there. I know he played with Matthews last year for a bit, so I wanted to see how it looked in practice.
He can make plays, and the other guy can score. The line looked good to me. They moved it around well.
I like Max’s game right now. He is more aggressive. He is shooting more and attacking more. He is skating better. He has to continue to do that. He has all the abilities — a really good shot, he is obviously a very good playmaker, and he is a strong skater. He is fast. He needs to use his speed.
Depending on what happens with OEL, we may see Morgan Rielly and Philippe Myers together again. What have you seen from that pair in the past this season? What is the key to them having success together?
Berube: Myers is going to stay home and kill plays, which he has done a good job of. As much as he can, get it over to Rielly, who will move the puck. Myers is simple with the puck; when he gets it, it is usually directly out. It is the same in the neutral zone. He is pretty direct with it.
What I like about Myers: he has killed plays in our zone quickly. He is a big guy. He looks to shoot every time. If a puck goes low to high, he is looking to pound it, which I like. He gets it on and off; he has a good shot.
Mo just has to keep playing his game. To me, Mo is playing better. I liked him the other night in Edmonton. He had a good game. It was five D, so it was a tough game against that team — or any team, as a matter of fact.
Mo has the luxury of getting up in the play. Myers can stay back and do his job.
What do you think the best version of Rielly looks like for you on this team?
Berube: Moving pucks for sure — he is a good pucker mover who sees the ice well — and activating as a defenseman. In the offensive zone, again, it’s about activating when he can and being more aggressive on the offensive side of things.
He has been battling defensively, and I know the plus/minus doesn’t show it, but a lot of those are with the goalie out. He is battling harder in his own zone. He is playing in our defensive zone pretty well.
On the other side of things, he hasn’t produced enough points as he has in the past. We are going to need that from him.
Do you think the lack of point production is affecting Rielly mentally at all?
Berube: Anyone who looks at that stuff, whether it is your plus/minus or points, when you are a point producer, it wears on you for sure. He has to be mentally tough and keep fighting through it, which he is.
My conversations with him have been good. He is looking at everything. He is watching his shifts. He feels good. He is training. He is looking after himself. He is doing all the right things, and he is going to come out of it. He just has to keep battling.
I talk to all of our team about battling through adversity. Just keep battling.
Who are you starting in net on Tuesday?
Berube: I don’t know yet. I am thinking about it.
How close is Anthony Stolarz?
Berube: He is close, boys, but I really don’t know. I would tell you if I did, and you know that. Right now, I don’t know.
Is there any benefit to Stolarz backing up for a game before he starts again?
Berube: Not necessarily, no. Coming off of an injury like that, I don’t see a benefit of him backing up. You never know; if something happens, he has to go in cold, and I don’t see any benefit in that.
What were you looking to address at the end of practice?
Berube: At the end, we walked through the 5v6. The other night (in Edmonton), we got seamed a couple of times by Edmonton. We weren’t in the right position. We got mixed up in a couple of different scenarios. They got it moving around pretty good, and they roll. We lost coverage. The goal got called back, but there was the seam play. We can’t give those seams up.
We walked through it today. It is not something we practice all the time — it is more video-based — but I thought it was good to walk through the scenarios today.
