On locker cleanout day, head coach Craig Berube discussed his uncertain future, the team’s failures this season, and the organization’s outlook moving forward.
What is your message to the players, as you see them for the last time until training camp?
Berube: Individually, we’re meeting with every player and going over their year and the things they need to improve upon. We’ll get into the team stuff with a lot of the guys, too.
What would you have done differently this season, when you look back on it?
Berube: Throughout the season, as a coaching staff and organization, we tried to do things a little differently to try to help the team get to another level. We tried things, and they worked for a bit.
Yeah, that’s a tough question. I don’t really think of anything right now.
What is the biggest reason why the team went from its success last season to where it ended this season?
Berube: Goals against.
In that regard, how much of an impact did Chris Tanev’s absence have defensively?
Berube: Well, it is an impact, for sure. He is a core guy back there who takes pride and is very good at shutting other teams down and keeping goals out of your net. If you lose Chris Tanev, it is tough. But injuries happen in this game, and you have to overcome them.
How do you respond to the notion that you failed to maximize the talent of this group?
Berube: Yeah, it’s on me. It’s on everybody. We didn’t perform at the level we needed to get back into the playoffs.
Do you expect to be back next season?
Berube: Yes.
Is that a message you’ve heard from the team?
Berube: No, I haven’t heard anything about that. It’s the same as you guys have heard. When a new GM gets hired, they’ll make a decision.
If there is some added emphasis on AI or whatever data next year, how comfortable are you with that?
Berube: We’ll see. We’ll obviously talk about it, discuss it, and see where it goes.
How tough has it been for you to stay the course with all of the volatility above you in the organization?
Berube: As I said, when Tre was let go, it was tough on me. He gave me the opportunity here. Good friend. I loved working with him. That is difficult, but at the same time, I have a job to do, and I have to keep doing it.
A couple of players spoke about not being completely bought in. You mentioned that they didn’t quite “grab” your system. Do you think your system is the right one? Will you modify it going into next year?
Berube: Well, a system is a system. We did modify it this year at times. It ended up being the same result. It is not like we’re not trying to work, help the players, and try to get them to a different level.
Systems are systems. They have to be executed to be successful.
Do you think the team could bounce back and make this season a one-off?
Berube: I do. We have some good players here. We have to make some adjustments. We have to make some moves to bring in maybe some different players or people, but there is a good core here, good players, and good people. I do believe we can bounce back.
When the team finished the way it did after the Olympics, the record on paper made it look like the team was tanking. But you weren’t tanking, and you had a tanking record. What does that say about this group, yourself, and everything that happened post-February?
Berube: We didn’t perform well enough, obviously. It is not like we weren’t trying to go out there and win hockey games. We didn’t get it done. That’s what it says.
In retrospect, how much did the team miss Mitch Marner?
Berube: You’re going to miss a player of his calibre. Every team, if they lose a guy like that, will miss him. At the same time, that is not the reason this season happened.
All coaches want dependable goaltending. You’ve had a year of not knowing who is here, who is healthy, and how is playing. Can you live with the goaltending you have right now?
Berube: Well, we did last year, and they were solid, right? We had a nice tandem, and I believe we can have that tandem again. This year, whether it was a one-off or whatever, there were a lot of circumstances with injuries and different things that went on. It was a little chaotic in the goaltending department. But I do believe that Stolarz and Woll are very good goalies when healthy and ready to go. I believe they can come back next year and do the job again.
What is your opinion on the culture in the room?
Berube: I think our culture is good in here. I don’t have a problem with the culture. I have a problem with how we performed on the ice.
I come in here daily, and I see the guys doing what they’re supposed to be doing, working hard in practice. The room was good. The guys were good with each other. The culture is good around here.
Did it translate to the ice? No, it didn’t.
Is that the biggest question: why didn’t it translate?
Berube: Yeah, and that’s stuff we have to go over. I am not going to talk about every single thing about the on-ice performance and the individuals’ performance on the ice, but those are things we have to look at and assess going forward here.
Big picture, can NHL teams succeed with Auston Matthews and William Nylander as their two cornerstones?
Berube: Absolutely.
What makes you confident in that?
Berube: Because I watch them play and I know what kind of people they are.
