Berube likes to work in pairs and sees the duo of Matthews and Marner as a rule more than an exception.
Berube likes to work in pairs and sees the duo of Matthews and Marner as a rule more than an exception.
BRACEBRIDGE, Ont. — When Mitch Marner returned from a suspected ankle injury in April of last season, the Toronto Maple Leafs forward wasn't instantly reunited with regular linemate Auston Matthews. Instead, he was moved to the second line as Matthews found chemistry on a line with the now departed Tyler Bertuzzi (signed to the Chicago Blackhawks) and Max Domi.
But with Craig Berube overseeing his first training camp as head coach of the Leafs, he instantly put Marner back with Matthews and that is where the duo have stayed throughout (except for a couple of sessions Matthews missed with an upper-body ailment).
So why did Berube reunite the dynamic duo?
"Well, just from previous years watching them play, they've been very good together for a long time, I kind of like to work in pairs," Berube said following the team's practice at Muskoka Lumber Community Centre in Bracebridge on Wednesday. "You can rotate another guy in and out, but, can just go back to (David) Perron and (Ryan) O'Reilly who were similar but at times I had to split them up. They needed a new linemate for a bit."
Berube has held firm to that in his style of practice. Most of the sessions in training camp have been players working in 2-on-2 style drills. During practice on Wednesday the Leafs only worked in pairs. And when they didn't do that, they were working on the power play and penalty-kill drills. There were no line rushes whatsoever.
Matthews and Marner have played the majority of the last five seasons on the top line together. The duo have been a mainstay since the club moved on from Mike Babcock as bench boss in November of 2019 and replaced him with Sheldon Keefe. Under Keefe, Matthews and Marner were only separated if the team was struggling. Last year was an exception as an injury forced some experimentation.
But now that it's a new season with a new coach, Berube is going to stick with what has worked until it doesn't.
"They know where each other are, that's a huge thing," Berube said. "But for me, watching these guys from training camp and not just these two guys, just the work ethic and their competitiveness that they go into practice and it's full out, which is great to see
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=POgZVoS8PYY[/embed]
"(When) we got our best players competing like that and working in practice, everybody follows in line."
With Matthews entering his first season as captain and the Leafs being asked to play a different system with an emphasis on competing for the puck and winning battles, it makes sense for Berube to stick with established chemistry from the very start
"We've had a great bond ever since day one together and you know it's a great relationship," Marner said of Matthews. "Then off the ice, we have a hell of a relationship that we could communicate very clearly about how we want each other to play and be like."
And with Marner having a lot riding on this season as a pending unrestricted free agent, the player is certainly being put in his best position to prove himself.
"He's come into camp really focused. I think he looks good. Obviously, very motivated," Matthews said of Marner. "I think everybody is coming in here really driven with purpose. Camp's been hard, but I think everybody's been pushing each other extremely hard and just trying to prepare and get ready for obviously a long journey ahead, but just making sure that we're taking care of today and today only."
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