As new Toronto coach Craig Berube discussed accountability on Tuesday, Adam Proteau says the front office should be held accountable if the Leafs don't improve next year.
As new Toronto coach Craig Berube discussed accountability on Tuesday, Adam Proteau says the front office should be held accountable if the Leafs don't improve next year.
The Toronto Maple Leafs formally introduced their new coach, Craig Berube, at Tuesday's press conference.
Although the meeting with media was a typically low-information affair for heavily secreted Toronto brass, it was evident there’s a new era in Leafs Land, and the clock is now ticking on what could be the last big management move of team president Brendan Shanahan’s tenure running the organization.
Berube spoke vaguely about responsibility and accountability in his remarks Tuesday, but his stern tone and steely demeanor indicate where the Leafs will be headed this off-season.
The process of figuring out who will and won’t be returning in Blue and White begins immediately for a team that needs to show marked improvement to keep Shanahan and GM Brad Treliving running the show in the long term.
“To hold players accountable and for players to understand the accountability, you have to form a partnership throughout,” Berube said Tuesday. “It starts in the summertime – then, when you have to hold the player accountable, it could be for ice time, it could be for whatever the situation is, they understand it more. Communication is huge.”
Undoubtedly, Treliving’s roster reshaping this summer will require input and feedback from Berube. Whether that means the end of the line for star winger Mitch Marner in Toronto will be up to Treliving and Shanahan, but bringing back the “Core Four” of forward talent is not the way many people believe the situation will shake out.
Marner is likely the easiest of the four (including Auston Matthews, John Tavares, and William Nylander) to move because he has one year left on his contract and is in his prime, so it should shock no one if he is asked to waive his no-trade clause and is dealt to a new team. But if Marner, Nylander, Matthews and Tavares do return to Toronto, it’s going to fall on Berube to change things up.
Shanahan and Treliving looked comfortable Tuesday putting all their eggs in the new coach’s basket.
“First-liners, fourth-liners, Canadian and European guys, players who played different styles and had different backgrounds…(t)hey all had the same message: (Berube) is a great coach and a great person," Shanahan said.
“When I went through the (hiring) process, it kept coming back to Craig,” added Treliving, who said he spoke with nine individuals about Toronto’s coaching vacancy before choosing Berube late last week. "I look at Craig, and ultimately what brought me back to him was his leadership, his ability to build teams and have a team-first concept, his ability to connect with players, and his ability to hold people accountable."
That “accountability” message was the theme of the day at Berube’s press conference, but don’t fool yourself – Treliving and Shanahan are both under pressure to create a new and improved look for the Leafs. While Berube is a crucial piece of the puzzle for them, the front office will do much of the heavy lifting that comes with accountability in the next few months.
If there isn’t accountability for Leafs players and the team meets the same fate next season, the accountability will fall on Shanahan and Treliving, and at least one of the two could pay for it with their job. But for the short term, at least, Berube will be the most important management member of the Buds.
Shanahan, Treliving and Berube were happy at Tuesday’s press conference, but those smiles will quickly fall away if Leafs players don’t meet expectations next season. There wasn’t a clear-cut desperation in the voices of any of the three men Tuesday, but there must be consequences for Toronto’s playoff woes. Berube’s predecessor, Sheldon Keefe, had to bear the brunt of those consequences when Treliving dismissed him.
Also, don’t think people didn’t notice the appearance of Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment boss Keith Pelley at Tuesday’s press conference. Pelley sat silently in the front row of the presser, but he’s now deeply involved and invested in the choices he’s made about the management group. That’s only going to increase as the new season plays out.
Failing to improve is not an option for Berube and the rejigged management team, and nothing less than a couple of playoff series wins should suffice to maintain the management mix in Toronto. The weight of expectations is heaviest on Berube today, but unless matters improve greatly, the Leafs organization could look dramatically different next summer.