Ahead of the opening of training camp, head coach Craig Berube joined 100% Hockey to discuss preparation for the new season, moving on without Mitch Marner, his blue line, and the addition of Derek Lalonde to the coaching staff
Entering your second year as head coach of the Maple Leafs, does it feel different than it did a year ago?
Berube: Well, there is familiarity, right? You spend a year here, so you know the guys, and you know the organization and how things work. For sure, there is a little bit of familiarity, which helps.
I am excited and ready to go. That feeling hasn’t changed for me over the years. You come into camp, and you see all of the guys skating and preparing. It is a really exciting time for me.
Are you ready for what’s ahead with the meat grinder of the media?
Berube: That is all part of it here. We all know that. I understand it. To be honest with you, I didn’t have an issue with it last year. Yeah, there is a lot, and there are a lot of questions to answer. There is a lot of media here, but it is part of the job. I understood that coming in. You just have to deal with it, do your best, and give them what they need. It is all part of the job.
Did you enjoy coaching in Toronto more than you expected?
Berube: Probably, I did. From the city to the fans to the media to the organization and players, I enjoyed all of it. I really did.
The organization is first-class. Working with Brad is first class. Brad and I’s relationship is very close.
I really enjoyed the players, the professionalism that they come in with every day, and the work ethic. When I see guys get here early in the gym as a team and work together as a team in the gym and on the ice, and the intensity and hard work in practice, it is what you want as a coach.
Will the elimination of the dress code filter down to the coaches?
Berube: I haven’t heard anything. I think we are wearing suits still, unless we pull a Torts and start wearing the zip-ups. He set the tone there. He just wears the zip-ups, and I love it.
No, it doesn’t change for us. I don’t think it is going to change a lot for the players. I haven’t seen players roll into games dressing like slobs. These guys understand. They are going to dress accordingly. I don’t see it being an issue.
One change from last year is the departure of Brendan Shanahan. Your relationship with Brad Treliving is strong, and you probably have a new relationship with Keith Pelley. How does it affect things?
Berube: For sure, I had a great relationship with Shanny from playing against him for a number of years. To me, it was a really good relationship, and I thought we worked well together. He is a Hall-of-Fame player and knows the game really well. We had a lot of good conversations about the game, where we are at, and the things where we need to get better.
Obviously, it is a change, but I have a good relationship with Keith. I got to know him well last year. He is a great guy. It is a little bit of a new direction, but I think it is going to be great.
Players around the league remarked on their impression that the Maple Leafs were a different feeling team last year. How do you take it to the next level and get better?
Berube: For sure, our identity doesn’t change. We formed a good identity last year. It is about getting it better. We were right there, I thought.
Where does it need to get better?
Berube: Mentally. If you look at Game 5 and Game 7 at home against Florida, we didn’t perform at the level we needed to in those games. We got impatient at times. We just didn’t stick to our game.
If you look at Game 6 in Florida, we played a really good, solid game where we were patient all game, we were heavy, and we were hard. I just thought we didn’t do that at home. The mindset at home, in these big games, has to improve.
Overall, I think we still can improve our identity. That is the focus at camp. We can be tougher than we were. It has nothing to do with the fighting aspect of the game. It is about being a hard, physical team, a mentally tough team, and not breaking.
You can bend, but you can’t break. To me, that is a big thing in camp that we have to push. We have to get our players to take another step.
When you mention home ice, do you think there is less of a home-ice advantage in Toronto, with the number of players returning to play in their hometown, compared to Philly or St. Louis?
Berube: I do. I really do. Teams come in here, and a lot of Canadian players and hometown Toronto guys are excited to play here. They are looking forward to it. Games at home are hard. They really are.
We have to be better. We have to understand that these teams that are coming in are going to be excited and jacked up to play the Leafs at home. We can play more to our identity at home.
You don’t have to be great, but you have to be good. We don’t need great plays. We need good, smart hockey plays and to play to our identity at home as much as we do on the road.
That is a step that this team has to take, as well as dealing with all of the pressures of home ice in Toronto with the fans and media. That is all a part of it. It is not easy, but that is the step we need to take here.
How do you accomplish the goal of becoming mentally stronger, or bending but not breaking?
Berube: I think it is about discussing it with our team more than normal. It is going to become situational with video of games at home that you can pick out and show to the team. We have to be direct all the time, whether we are at home or on the road. We need to play the same way.
At home, we try to be a little too cute at times. We want to make the great play, especially your top guys. They want to perform at home in front of the fans and the people of Toronto. But we have to get past that. The focus has to be on doing the right things and what is best for the team.
How do you replace Mitch Marner’s 102 points?
Berube: Well, you don’t. Mitch is a great player. We all know that. I loved coaching him. I learned a lot from him. He is a smart player. Very intelligent. You don’t replace that.
We replaced him with a few different players who we think are going to be valuable to our team. I think we got bigger over the summer, adding Roy and Joshua. Maccelli is a young guy who has played some really good hockey in Arizona and Utah. He is a skilled player; we all know he can make plays.
We will just see where it all fits. I am not sure where [Maccelli] is going to play yet. I’ll have to see different combinations and feel out the chemistry.
Listen, you lose a great player, but you replace him with some really good players, and we all just have to pull together as a team. It is about the team, not one player.
Would you have had a conversation with Mitch after he signed in Vegas?
Berube: No, it’s not like I called him up on the phone, but I talked to Mitch. I wished him good luck and everything. Again, I don’t have any hard feelings. That is a player’s choice. They’re a free agent, and they can make those decisions. It is what is best for them and their family.
As a coach, could you see it weighing on Mitch throughout the season?
Berube: No, I didn’t see it weighing on Mitch throughout the season. I thought he handled everything extremely well throughout the year.
At the trade deadline, I saw his game maybe drop off a little bit toward or after that for a little bit, but other than that, I didn’t see it weighing on him throughout the season at all.
People may not realize this, but he was really low maintenance for me as a coach. It is not like I had to go and talk to him about a lot of different things. He played really well for us. His practice habits were excellent. His energy was excellent all the time in practices and games. He was very low maintenance.
Does Auston Matthews’ game have to change at all without Mitch?
Berube: It might have to. We will see how things roll around and who is going to play there at that position. I don’t know if his game has to change that much, but one scenario you can think about is that he might have to do more for himself with the puck in the offensive zone at times — hang onto it a little longer. He won’t have that give-and-go chemistry he had with Mitch. We don’t have a Mitch Marner looking for him all the time to make the play to him.
He might have to adjust a little bit that way, but other than that, his game and what he does without the puck defensively doesn’t have to change for me. In the offensive zone, he is going to have to find some chemistry with another player.
How happy were you that John Tavares re-signed?
Berube: Very happy. Johnny is as good a pro as you can find in the game, in my opinion, with the way he prepares. He is a great team guy, teammate, and leader.
I didn’t see any signs of him slowing down last year. I thought he had a tremendous year. For me, I look at Johnny, and everything he does is what is best for the team. That is very important.
One player you never have to push is Chris Tanev. What did you learn about Chris behind the bench last season?
Berube: He is just a warrior and provides stability. He just does the right thing every time out there. I get the same player every night. You don’t see that too often.
You couldn’t count many games where I saw him off. He was always there for the team, whether it was blocking a shot, making a play, or making those little five-foot passes he makes. He is just such a great pro and teammate.
He is a warrior, for me. He lays it on the line every game.
How would you describe your group of six defensemen?
Berube: I know they didn’t provide a ton of offense throughout the season, but I thought it got better as the season went along and started to adjust. In the playoffs, they scored some goals and provided some offense. I feel like that is going to carry forward this year at the start of the season.
They were physical. They played hard. They protected our net. They protected the interior of the ice in all three zones. We want to continue to do that, whether it is big bodies blocking shots, getting in the way, or playing physical with good sticks.
We have to continue to be that, but there is more offense there. I thought it started to come throughout the season and got better in the playoffs. We want to continue to provide some offense back there, too.
Do you need more from Morgan Rielly?
Berube: Yeah, we do. Again, the offense side of things started to come later in the season. He wanted to focus on the defensive side of things and be a better defensive player who is more physical and reliable back there. Maybe we took his instincts away from him a little bit. They started to come back.
I’ll tell you this: Morgan had a hell of a summer. He looks great. He is in great shape. I don’t know if it is the best shape he has ever been in, but I think it is pretty close. He took it to heart last year. He wasn’t happy with his season offensively. He put in some great work this summer. I think we are going to see a different player.
What are you planning to do with your goaltending and managing the tandem?
Berube: I don’t think it changes from last year. I think we have a great tandem here. You have to use both guys, especially in today’s game with the schedule being the way it is. Both goalies are going to play. It’ll play itself out throughout the season, but I see both goalies getting significant starts throughout the year.
Matthew Knies got paid. What is the upside with him? Do you see a ceiling? How far is the ceiling beyond what he’s shown us so far?
Berube: That is a good question. I don’t see a whole lot changing. He established himself as a true power forward last year. He needs to continue to do that. He needs to play in straight lines, be physical, win those battles, be a great forecheck player, and get to the net. That is where he scored a lot of his goals.
He has good hands. We saw it in tight in the playoffs, too, where he did some pretty cool moves. He has great hands.
What’s his ceiling? Can he score more this year? We hope so, but again, he doesn’t have to get away from what he is. We need him to be who he was last year and try to evolve a little bit.
He touched all situations for us. He was a great penalty killer. He did a great job on the PP in front of the net. Again, from a power forward, that is what we want.
Is it a given that Knies is playing with Auston?
Berube: He’ll probably start there. Hopefully, he stays there, haha.
I think he is a good complement to Auston. I really do. He gets in there, wins a lot of battles down low, gets the puck loose for those guys, and he knows his job. He is going to the net and is around the net.
And you have to hope that Auston stays healthy.
Berube: Yeah, for sure. Auston feels really good. He has had a good summer that way. We have to make sure we keep him healthy.
That obviously hurt him last year with the production, but I thought he had a hell of a year in a lot of different areas. I know the goals weren’t there, but he was a really, really good 200-foot player for us.
Can you evaluate the Eastern Conference and where your team fits in?
Berube: Well, it is a battle. Ottawa is going to be maybe better than they were last year. Their young guys are going to improve. They’re going to be better. It is a good team with a lot of good players. They have a goalie who has really established himself in net. They are going to be tough.
Florida is tough. Tampa is tough. It is a tough division. It is hell. It is a very tough division. Montreal is going to be better. It is going to be a battle. I expect that.
What did you like about Derek Lalonde in adding him to your coaching staff?
Berube: Very intelligent guy. He speaks extremely well and presents extremely well. He knows the game well.
The personality jumped out more than anything. I think he is going to work really well with our players, teaching them and helping them get better, but also, he fits in extremely well with our group.
How much time have you spent looking at the schedule, with the unique challenge of the Olympic season, when it comes to practice time and so on?
Berube: That is all done already, but there are adjustments throughout the season. You get a good feel for your players, where they are at, and how tired they are. People around the organization monitor that stuff.
Practice time will dwindle throughout the season, for sure. It is going to get heavy. There is not going to be a ton of it. We have been through this before. It is nothing new.
It is just about understanding where your team and players are at. There is going to be extra time off for rest, for sure.
Is leaning on your leadership group a big part of reading the players?
Berube: For sure, but I think you have to be careful, too. You want to lean on them and talk to your leaders about where they are at mentally and physically, but as a coaching staff, you have to do what you think is best at times, too.
There are times when you have to push them. They are going to be tired, but there are times you have to get out there and work on things. It may not be long, but 20 minutes is important a lot of the time. You don’t want to lose that, either. You can’t just always say, “Well, they’re tired. We are going to take a break.” You have to stay sharp.
They are going to be physically and mentally tired, but you have to push through it.
