The Toronto Maple Leafs are running out of excuses as coach Craig Berube demands more "passion" from a roster searching for answers.
WASHINGTON — You could feel the tension as you walked into Capital One Arena Friday afternoon. The Toronto Maple Leafs were holding practice just one day after a demoralizing 4-0 loss to the Washington Capitals. The rink was quiet, the mood thick with unease.
The only significant noise came from the construction zone in the bowels of the arena, which is currently undergoing a massive multimillion-dollar renovation. But as the Leafs prepared for Saturday’s game against the Nashville Predators, they seemed uninterested in any "renovations" of their own. Instead, the team appears set to deploy nearly identical lines, save for a few subtle adjustments.
Phil Myers looks ready to return to the lineup in place of Henry Thrun. Myers, who has previously spent time on the right side of Morgan Rielly, appears set to reprise that role. Meanwhile, former Predator Calle Jarnkrok will enter the fray, replacing Steven Lorentz on the fourth line.
Is this an endorsement of the roster's top-end talent?
“I put that top line together. Right now, that's what I feel is best,” Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube said. “I like JT's (John Tavares) line. I've liked the 55 line for a while. So that's where we're at”.
Toronto’s top line of Auston Matthews, Matthew Knies, and William Nylander was outshot 7-0 at 5-on-5 on Thursday. Given Berube’s outspoken criticism of his team’s performance, the coach appears to be running out of tactical options beyond simply trying to lift the group’s spirits.
“Well, they're definitely down, right? They're not where they want to be, and neither are we. As coaches, we're all in it together,” Berube said. “I just said, ‘Guys, we're in the NHL. Let's have some fun.’ I get it, but we're still okay. We've got to string some wins together... You can't be tentative”.
Despite the coach's words, Friday's practice was anything but fun. There was very little chatter on the ice. One segment of the session saw the club work extensively on drills that kept players restricted to the neutral zone, followed by grueling work along the boards.
The Leafs did not work on their power play, which went 0-for-5 on Friday.
The Leafs are now 33 games into the season and have a record of 15-13-5. They are past the point where a lack of passion and effort can be dismissed as a one-time occurrence. They are also running out of excuses. When the team struggled earlier in the year, they pointed to a lack of road time and the bonding activities that come with travel. They were briefly proven right when they went 4-1-0 during their longest road trip of the season a few weeks ago.
Now, that progress has been undone, and the flaws in their play are glaring. It is not just about the losses; it is the manner in which they lose and the lack of pushback.
TikTok · David Alter
Check out David Alter’s video.
“You can't feel sorry for yourself. You have to look yourself in the mirror and really realize what's going on,” forward Scott Laughton told The Hockey News on Friday. “We are going to have to be way better. Every single guy... it’s just got to get better."
If it doesn’t, the fingers will inevitably point toward management. Before practice began, GM Brad Treliving and Berube were seen in a deep, private conversation outside the locker room. Both are under heavy pressure to find a fix. However, trades have been difficult for Treliving to navigate thus far, and Berube seems to have few answers left beyond asking his team to play harder.
Not since the Leafs finished in last place in 2016 has the club been this low (14th) in the Eastern Conference standings a week before Christmas. That year, they drafted Matthews first overall and regular season success hasn't been an issue since. Until now. This is the biggest crisis of the Matthews era, and the responsibility lies with the players to dig themselves out of a hole.
It starts with the captain. Matthews has to lead by dragging them out of it.