The message coming from Maple Leafs coach Craig Berube in a post-Mitch Marner world has always been clear: It鈥檚 not on one player to replace the irreplaceable. It will be a team effort.
鈥淵ou don’t replace the player, right? I mean, Mitch Marner is a great player,鈥 Berube said Monday in a phone interview with The Star. 鈥淗e’s a good all-around player, touched all scenarios of the game for us.
鈥淏ut what we did do is we added some depth to our team with (Nicolas) Roy, (Dakota) Joshua and (Matias) Maccelli. We added depth. We’re going to see where everybody fits.
鈥淚 get the pairs we have. There鈥檚 some real good chemistry with (Matthew) Knies and (Auston) Matthews and J.T. and Willie (John Tavares and William Nylander). But we鈥檝e got to look at some different people. It might be a combination of people that jump up there and play with Matthews. I don’t know right now. We’re going to try things and see how they look and where they fit in.鈥
Maple Leafs rookies are reporting this week, the veterans next week, and Berube has been in meetings with management and his coaching staff as they prepare for what鈥檚 ahead and weigh what the summer acquisitions might do for them.
Marner鈥檚 departure shifted the ground beneath the team to a certain extent, but in truth most of the 2024-25 team聽鈥 minus Marner, Ryan Reaves, Pontus Holmberg and Max Pacioretty (and the door is not closed there)聽鈥 will be in camp next week.
That could be an advantage in Berube鈥檚 eyes. The coach came in cold last year, upending how the team played, emphasizing more physical play and more forechecking. With most of the players back, the adjustment period will be smaller.
鈥淥ur systems aren’t changing that much,鈥 Berube said. 鈥淭here’s always tweaks, but (the players) understand what we want. We鈥檝e got our core back. We’ve got our goalies back. We lose Mitch Marner. But we add three players to our team.
鈥淭hat familiarity is important. The players all understand our identity and how we want to play the game. I don’t see a whole lot (of adjustments) in camp other than the new guys feeling their way in and trying to find chemistry.鈥
Berube wasn鈥檛 about to reveal who plays with whom, at least as far as the new guys. But he did say he liked the combination of Knies with Matthews, and Nylander with Tavares.
And he sounded excited when asked what he thought the new guys could bring, starting with Joshua. The six-foot-three centre, who dealt with testicular cancer last season, was acquired from the Vancouver Canucks.
鈥淚 had Dak in St. Louis and the last year I coached him he scored 10 goals,鈥 Berube said. 鈥淗e was really coming as a player, as a big, physical guy. He has the ability to score some goals. He touches the defensive side of things. We’re going to rely heavily on him being a good heavy forecheck player and a hard guy to play against. And he became a pretty good penalty killer in Vancouver. He is a good add for us.鈥
Late Hall of Fame goalie, author, teacher, lawyer and politician was, in many ways, the
Roy is six-foot-four and 201 pounds. He鈥檚 a right-handed centre, something the team has lacked in recent years. He鈥檚 the player the Leafs received in the Marner sign-and-trade with Vegas.
鈥淗e moves up and down the lineup a little,鈥 Berube said. 鈥淗e can penalty-kill, take faceoffs, defensive responsibilities. He’s a good checker. He’s got size and reach, but he’s got sneaky hands around the net.鈥
Berube seemed equally intrigued by Maccelli, the 24-year-old playmaker coming off a down year in Utah. He had just 18 points after accumulating 57 in 2023-24.
鈥淗e’s a real good playmaker,鈥 Berube said. 鈥淪ees the ice well, makes plays. For me, it’s about seeing him more and seeing where he fits in. I鈥檓 not sure yet.鈥
Maccelli has played mostly left wing, but has told Berube he鈥檚 equally comfortable on the right side. The coach sees Maccelli on the second power-play unit.
鈥淗e’s a crafty, skilled player,鈥 Berube said. 鈥淗e adds more to our second unit. So I think we’re going to get more production out of that, hopefully.鈥
To join the conversation set a first and last name in your user profile.
Sign in or register for free to join the Conversation