The Maple Leafs are 3-for-30 this season with the man-advantage but the struggles go beyond that.
The Maple Leafs are 3-for-30 this season with the man-advantage but the struggles go beyond that.
WINNIPEG — The Toronto Maple Leafs have made adjustments to their power play over the years, but this is the first time during the core-four era—featuring Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, William Nylander, and John Tavares—that the players will be split across two different power-play units. This change will debut when the Leafs face the undefeated Winnipeg Jets at Canada Life Centre on Monday.
"It just felt that we've been thinking about it a little bit and just going to do it tonight," said Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube.
Currently, the Leafs are 3-for-30 on the power play, with their struggles dating back to February of last season. They also went 1-for-21 in their first-round playoff loss to the Boston Bruins during the 2024 Stanley Cup playoffs.
Since Tavares joined in 2018, the Leafs have experimented with their power play, often swapping out defensemen. Last season, they made an exception when Tyler Bertuzzi, on a hot streak, took over for a struggling Tavares on the first unit, pushing Tavares to the second unit.
Under Sheldon Keefe, they even tried a five-forward top power play setup at one point.
However, they haven’t divided their forward depth evenly between two units until now.
The top unit now includes Matthew Knies, Max Pacioretty, Matthews, Marner, and Morgan Rielly, while the second unit features Max Domi, Bobby McMann, Tavares, Nylander, and Oliver Ekman-Larsson.
"It's all about results for the most part, and we're not getting them. So we've got to try something different and a little bit more direct," Berube said. "This should make it a little bit more direct to the power play.
"It's about getting action at the net more. We need to get more action at the net. Good net front, strong guys at the net that can win puck battles around there and things like that. So that's what we're looking for with these units."