Maple Leafs hit the quarter mark in good spot, not satisfied

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First place in the Atlantic Division.

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Consistently winning hockey games as captain Auston Matthews recovers from an upper-body injury.

True, it’s just the quarter-mark of the 2024-25 National Hockey League regular season and the majority of hockey has yet to be played, but there can’t be much debating the kind of impact that new coach Craig Berube has had on the Leafs through the club’s first 20 games.

Back in May when the Leafs fired coach Sheldon Keefe, part of the reasoning on the part of general manager Brad Treliving was that the team brass “determined that a new voice” was needed behind the bench.

Keefe did some great things during his Leafs tenure, guiding the club annually to 100-point seasons, but Berube was hired to push the team through in the playoffs.

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With a defence-first approach and attention to physical detail, the Leafs are going about being successful in a new manner, proof that what Berube wants out of his players has been translating on the ice.

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“As players, we feel it, and I think you can tell by watching that it’s a different kind of game than what we’ve played in the past,” defenceman Morgan Rielly said. “It has been a bit of an adjustment, but it has been good. I think we’re doing all right.”

The Leafs record of 12-6-2, which has them one point ahead of the defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers in the Atlantic Division, underlines that. The Leafs have been solid without Matthews, winning six of the past seven games he has missed, but there’s a little more to it than bearing down with the captain on the sideline.

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Defensively, the Leafs have pulled up their hockey socks. Not only have they cut down on goals against at five-on-five (allowing 28, tied for third-fewest in the NHL heading into Friday’s games), they’re not giving up many Grade-A chances. At five-on-five, the Leafs were tied for allowing the third-fewest high-danger scoring chances.

Berube stresses with his players the importance of defending the “guts” of the ice in the D zone and the systemic differences have, well, made a difference.

The low forward has become more of a partner with the defence pair and can switch out more easily. On the whole, five-man units are more connected.

“There’s a learning curve,” Rielly said. “The chances we’re giving up are less. It’s a commitment to the structure and understanding the importance of it.”

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Offensively, bushels of goals haven’t been required for the Leafs to win games, as they have scored more than four in just three games. No one in the organization is losing sleep over that.

“We’re working towards something, but on the way, the product is good,” Rielly said. “It’s not perfect, we’ve had guys out, we haven’t executed perfect every night, but we’re putting ourselves in a position where that’s OK.

“You’re in that position where you’re within striking range, and you will keep yourself there, if you’re close to the structure.”

Berube has said a few times that it was crucial that the players bought in from the first day of training camp in September. Hiccups along the way can be expected, as Rielly mentioned, especially when the team continues to put up points more often than not.

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And no one in the Leafs dressing room needs to be reminded that true judgement won’t come until the Stanley Cup playoffs. Still, the pieces being put in place now bring optimism.

“There’s nothing to rest on or feel great about,” centre John Tavares said. “We’re happy with the results we’re getting and with a lot of things that we’re doing, but it’s continuously trying to get better, everyone being on the same page, buying in and knowing every night’s a new challenge, and it’s a long year, so we have to keep grinding it out.

“You would hope you’re 20-0. That’s the goal, to go out and win every game. You work and push forward. Over 82 games, you want to put yourself in the best spot possible, earn a playoff spot and the highest positioning you can.”

Berube wouldn’t have it any other way.

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