Berube’s Trust In Rielly And Holmberg Proved Costly In Leafs’ Loss To Nashville

When your team is winning games in professional sports, problems you encounter can be swept under the rug. But when you fail, you open yourself up to fair criticism. And after their 5-2 defeat at the hands of the lowly Nashville Predators Saturday night, the Toronto Maple Leafs – and specifically, some of the choices made by Leafs coach Craig Berube – deserve to be questioned.

For one thing, Berube’s most-utilized player – Maple Leafs defenseman Morgan Rielly, who logged 24:28 of ice time – was far from in his best form. Now, we’re not as hard on Rielly as many have been this season, but against a Preds team that has struggled mightily on offense this season, Rielly was terrible with his defensive spacing and his play reads. And he didn’t make up for it with any offense at all, finishing the game with a minus-2 plus/minus rating. 

Rielly’s usage might have been understandable if the Leafs were down a defenseman because of injury. However, that wasn’t the case – and Toronto defensemen who played a better all-around game than Rielly played significantly fewer minutes than him. Relative newcomer D-man Brandon Carlo played just 15:21, shutdown blueliner Chris Tanev played only 17:11, and shutdown defenseman Jake McCabe logged only 19:17. Giving any of those three more time on ice than Rielly should’ve been a no-brainer for Berube, but that wasn’t how things played out – and the results were hugely disappointing from a defensive standpoint for the Buds.

Another questionable decision by Berube is his ongoing choice to use forward Pontus Holmberg on the Leafs’ third line. Holmberg clearly has a fan in Berube, but we don’t see Holmberg as anything other than a fourth-line forward – and against the Predators, Holmberg was used as Toronto’s third-line left winger. Unsurprisingly, Holmberg had no impact on offense whatsoever – the sixth consecutive game he was held off the scoresheet, and the ninth time in his past ten games he failed to produce a point. And Holmberg’s season point total of six goals and 15 points in 58 games should make it perfectly clear that this is not a player who is any better than a fringe NHLer.

Holmberg’s lack of production might not be as much of a problem if Berube didn’t have a far better option for the third line in trade-deadline-acquisition Scott Laughton, who was on the ice for a team-low 9:52 Saturday. The Leafs spent a first-round draft pick and a decent prospect in Nikita Grebenkin to land Laughton, so why isn’t he getting the benefit of the doubt in favor of Holmberg? Make it make sense, Mr. Coach, and give Laughton more chances than you’ve been giving Holmberg.

Laughton's early days with the Leafs haven't been very impressive – he has zero points through eight games with the Leafs – but if and when his game starts clicking in Toronto, he could be a difference-maker in the playoffs compared to Holmberg.

For the most part, we like the job Berube has done this season. But he’s made some confusing choices of late, and his reliance on Rielly and Holmberg Saturday were not choices that we agree with at all.

As their games grow in importance, the Leafs are going to have increasingly difficult decisions to make. And make no mistake – each and every decision Berube makes is going to fall under a microscope, and the choices he makes could ultimately be the difference between his team winning or losing in the post-season. Berube will have to justify his rationale for questionable moves like the ones he made Saturday because if he can’t, fans and media are going to eat him alive.

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