berube

03/24/2025 11:18 AM

TORONTO — How concerned should the Toronto Maple Leafs be that, with only a dozen games to go, they still haven't figured out the ideal way to roll their dozen forwards?

"It’s a little bit of a battle still," head coach Craig Berube admits, when asked if he's settled on a third line.

Toronto's first unit of Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner and Matthew Knies has essentially been in place since Day 1 of training camp and has outscored the opposition 27-22 this season.

Because Berube prefers to work in forward pairs and has shown a reluctance to spread his Core Four over three lines, John Tavares and William Nylander appear destined to start Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs together. And while the Leafs have been outshot 269-250 with that duo on the ice 5-on-5, their elite finishing abilities have the Tavares-Nylander combo outscoring their foes 29-17.

For now, that leaves Berube fiddling with a third-line duo of Max Domi and Nick Robertson — two offensively skilled but undersized waterbugs with defensive question marks.

"They've scored for us, and some good secondary scoring, right? I think Max's game has gone to another level. And I think there's even more there," Berube says.

"I work in pairs more than lines, I would say. Always have. You got to mix things up once in a while. And we do that. We'll move a winger here and there around."

The Leafs do have a 16-14 scoring edge with Domi and Robertson together, and that advantage goes up a tad (10-7) when they're joined by the speedy Bobby McMann.

Recently, though, Berube has used McMann's forechecking to energize Tavares-Nylander.

"He's been a good fit there," Berube says. "He's been there with those guys before, and they've come through."

OK. But Pontus Holmberg hasn't meshed as well Domi and Robertson.

And wasn't Scott Laughton brought in to skate in the top nine, not to kill 12 minutes on the fourth unit? And will Max Pacioretty — stuck on LTIR with the Maple Leafs pressed to the cap — be a surprise playoff option? He had some decent stretches on the second line.

The bottom-six puzzle pieces don't quite fit yet.

And there is legitimate concern that Toronto's third line will have a tough time outscoring, say, Florida's (Eetu Luostarinen–Anton Lundell–Evan Rodrigues) or Tampa's (Oliver Bjorkstrand–Nick Paul–Gage Gongalves) over a best-of-seven.

Berube has some runway here, much of it against non-playoff opponents.

He needs to figure out how to get the most chemistry and production out of support forwards.

At Monday’s practice, Laughton moved up to the left of the Domi-Robertson pair, and Holmberg slid down to the fourth-line pivot. But is healthy-scratching $2.4-million David Kämpf the answer?

Let’s just say this is a work in progress.

"It's always tinkering around a little bit," Berube says. "See how it goes."

Knies guy, tries hard, loves the game

By nearly every measure, Matthew Knies is putting the lie to the sophomore slump.

Through 66 games, he's already crushed new highs in goals (25), points (45), even-strength goals (21), game-winners (four), and shots (122).

He has also chipped in on both special teams, thrown 157 hits, blocked 35 shots, and ranks second on the team with 18 drawn penalties.

"I want to be able to score in different ways," says Knies, who is taking equal pride in his non-scoring metrics. "I think it has a big impact on the game. That's the player I'm trying to be."

As a rookie, Knies hit a bit of a wall down the stretch of 2023-24, going pointless in his final five games.

Paying close attention to the recovery habits of onetime landlord John Tavares, Knies has learned to better manage his energy levels and continues to charge despite an uptick in ice time. He's playing nearly five more minutes per game than he did as a freshman.

"I feel a lot better, honestly, than I did last year at this time. I think my body's a lot more used to it," he says. "I know how to take care of myself better. I still feel refreshed."

Berube is so pleased with the power forward, he uses Knies's physicality and net-driving as the blueprint for middle-six left wings like McMann and Holmberg.

"He forechecks extremely well. He gets in on top of people, quickly closes and makes contact and wins a lot of those puck battles," Berube says.

Outside of Knies, only Tom Wilson and Brady Tkachuk have amassed both 25 goals and 150 hits this season.

"He's very unique, in my opinion, with those two stats," Berube says. "There's not a lot of guys that can do what he can do."

Goalie rotation keeps on spinning

Lose and you're out.

Win and you're … also out?

Berube is content to keep both halves of his goalie tandem busy down the stretch, regardless of results.

A couple weeks ago, Anthony Stolarz looked like the frontrunner to start Game 1 of the playoffs. Then Joseph Woll locked in and won three straight, including last Monday's skid-snuffing turnaround game against Calgary and Thursday's marquee victory over Colorado.

Then Stolarz bounced back and Woll scuffled — along with everyone else — in Saturday's 5-2 loss at Nashville.

Because these guys are feeding off the healthy competition, because there are still three back-to-back on the schedule, and because neither has run away as the clear No. 1, we see no harm in balancing the workload.

See who's hottest on April 18 and give him the crease.

"I love the rotation. I know I played guys two in a row a little bit here and there, but I like the rotation," Berube explains. "I just don't feel like I want to get away from that — yet."

Ex-Bruin Brandon Carlo is catching some Jeremy Swayman–Linus Ullmark vibes with Stolarz-Woll.

"They are definitely similar to that tandem," Carlo says. "I've been very fortunate to have some great goalies along the way. And you can see throughout these past couple games, especially, they're on fire. So, I love having great goalies behind me."

One-Timers: Understanding the urge to stick with a winning lineup, there was some mild surprise that Berube scratched Calle Järnkrok in Toronto's lone trip to Nashville. He spent the bulk of his career and had his greatest success in Music City. … The Maple Leafs have a busy week but a relatively easy slate of opponents. They draw the Flyers at home Tuesday (28th place), then jet to California to face the Sharks (32nd), Kings (sixth; OK, they're good), and Ducks (24th). A great chance to stack points. … Morgan Rielly is minus-8 in March and has now dropped to a career-low minus-21 — despite starting a career-high 65.3 per cent of his shifts in the offensive zone.