Auston Matthews returned after missing nine games due to an upper-back injury. The Toronto Maple Leafs star is still not quite back game-breaking self. The Toronto Maple Leafs are playing different hockey this season under new head coach Craig Berube. After falling out of the first round again in May, losing to the Boston Bruins in seven games, Maple Leafs GM Brad Treliving decided to make a change. He fired then-head coach Sheldon Keefe and brought in a Stanley Cup winner in Berube. The organization also brought in veteran defensemen Chris Tanev and Oliver Ekman-Larsson in hopes of getting better defensively. They also signed Anthony Stolarz, who has helped the team solidify its goaltending. Through 27 games, the Maple Leafs have the fourth-least goals against in the NHL with 71. They're on pace to finish the season with 215 goals in the back of their net, 46 less than they ended last season with. While speaking with TSN's Gino Reda at the NHL Board of Governors meetings in Palm Beach, Florida, Maple Leafs President Brendan Shanahan says he's noticed a shift in the team's game under Berube. [embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vU1qNRI7cJw[/embed] "The big shift between this year and previous years is our play on the defensive side. You really sort of admire what Florida (Panthers) did. They weren't really known as a defensive team. They kind of made a collective decision, as a group, that they were going to be an outstanding defensive team, and it got them a championship," said Shanahan. "Sometimes it's about the individuals you have in the team, and sometimes it's about the individuals you have collectively coming together and making a decision to be better defensively. I give Craig Berube and his staff a lot of credit for that. But I give our players a lot of credit. But there's a long way to go, but so far, the commitment on the defensive side of the puck, the goaltending that we've been getting, knock on wood, we just want to keep improving, getting better at that." Toronto's president also spoke on several other topics, including Auston Matthews' recent trip to Munich, Germany, to receive treatment for an upper-body injury. The 27-year-old has returned to the Maple Leafs lineup and has scored seven points (three goals, four assists) in five games. "Well, first off, people have to understand, people watch TSN. They want us to reveal how people are feeling and people have privacy around injuries and teams do it, not because they want to keep secrets, but because there's a competitive disadvantage to revealing everything about all of your players, all the time," Shanahan said. "So, as far as Auston goes, whether it's Auston or any player on a team, we're always going to do everything we can to give every player every single opportunity for him to get better, feel better, and there's nothing really unusual about it. Glad that [Matthews] is back. We certainly missed him. He's an important part of our team. "I think he'd be the first to say that he was missing it and wanting to get back. But as far as helping facilitate some of the relationships he has in the medicine world and the different practitioners around the world, we want to be on the cutting edge as well, and if we have to help somebody see somebody, we just want to get the player healthy and get the player back on the ice." Mitch Marner is in the final year of a six-year, $65.408 million contract he signed in Sept. 2019. Marner is having a career year, scoring 10 goals and 28 assists for 38 points in 27 games. Shanahan was asked about negotiations on Monday but didn't provide much on how they're going. "I've learned you don't comment on any of that type of stuff, other than to just say that he's playing great hockey. He's been a great player for us for a long time. Any time you've got a guy that is that creative offensively, and also not just one of your team's best defensive players, but one of the league's best defensive players," Shanahan said. "Not surprised with how he's playing and we're just happy with the way he's playing and I'll leave it at that." Shanahan was then asked about his contract, which is reportedly set to expire after this season. "I think with players and coaches, there's obviously, for good reason, focus on their contracts and when their contracts are expiring. If you go into that boardroom today, in any given year, there's 20 or so guys that play their contracts out. It's different for management. I'm not the story. The focus isn't on me," he said. "I'm just going to continue to do the job every day I wake up. Whether I'm in my first year or final year of a contract, I'm always going to think about, 'What can I do for the Maple Leafs?' My commitment from the first day I got here, and my dream, was, 'What can I do to help this team?' So, that's where my focus is now. It's not on the future, it's not on the past. It's what can we do right now to get better and how can I help?" The Maple Leafs sit second in the Atlantic Division with 32 points, behind the Panthers, who are two points ahead with 34. With a win against the New Jersey Devils and a Florida loss, Toronto can move into a tie for first in the division, which they've done previously this season.
