What can Craig Berube do differently this season to help the Toronto Maple Leafs?

As Craig Berube enters another season at the helm of the Toronto Maple Leafs, he is still trying to figure out how to help a talented roster that has consistently fallen short of expectations in the playoffs. The former Stanley Cup-winning coach is different from his predecessor as he focuses more on grit, toughness and a two-way style of play that is different from their usual high-end offence.

When Craig Berube took the head coach spot in May 2024, he injected the locker room with a dose of grit and accountability he learned from his Stanley Cup-winning run with St. Louis in 2019. In his first year, the Leafs had another successful regular season with 108 points and surprisingly their first Atlantic Division title, setting a new wins record for a first-year coach.

Yet, as the story has always played out, another regular season ended with another heartbreaking playoff loss. Another second-round exit, crushingly ended in Game 7, and Toronto’s franchise-record seventh consecutive loss in Game 7.

What can be done?

As Toronto looks to the 2025–26 season and a new era for the roster, these are some changes Craig Berube can make.

Berube’s mandate was clear: a competitive, north-south brand of hockey, dump-and-chase, hard forechecks, and physicality over finesse. This helped instill a new identity for the team and helped them change their style to one better suited for the postseason.

Berube should emphasize puck possession along with his physical style, especially with the firepower on the roster, Matthews, Nylander, and Knies, and how they can handle the puck. Letting their creative style shine most notably in the offensive zone might be what unleashes long-awaited playoff production.

Berube was also more cautious in dealing with injuries, pulling out players for what might have been considered too insignificant under Keefe—a far cry from the “play-through-it” culture. That sounds good on paper, but a too-conservative approach coupled with highly physical practices might zap lineup stability and chemistry.

There has to be a more equal balance: keep players healthy through the stretch runs, but do not over-rotate lineups, especially during the regular season, to remain intact.

This can also be said about Berube’s practices, which are more intense than the Keefe style and lack music. While these practices can help build resilience, they also increase the risk of accidental injuries.

New toys

This offseason, management emphasized building depth, especially in the bottom-six. Acquisitions like Maccelli, Roy, and Joshua are evidence of a deliberate shift from the “stars-and-scraps” mindset. Meanwhile, prospects like Easton Cowan remain interesting—though whether he makes the roster full-time is yet to be determined

Berube has to learn to trust the next generation of Leafs players, especially in important positions, and help establish their roles. Similarly, communication with players such as Nick Robertson, who has yet to find his place in Berube’s system, has to be open and constructive.

Berube’s work ethic paid dividends, as Oliver Ekman-Larsson noted; he taught the team to live shift by shift, avoiding the pressure of the moment. That’s a hallmark of playoff resilience. But “punishment versus possession,” a mantra early on, can take the eyes off the prize of scoring goals.

Instead, channel that same tenacity into purposeful intensity, i.e., physical battles and aggressive forechecking should yield offence, not suppress it. Let defence and transition generate momentum rather than relying solely on brute force.

With Brendan Shanahan out of the organization. Berube is now a more influential member of the organization, helping shape rosters and the team’s identity. That presents an opportunity for change.

On to next season

Berube should help build a more bottom up approach within the organization: continue shaping personnel choices for two-way, balanced hockey—while continuing to include players and management in key decisions. Empowering voices like Knies, who has shown his love for Toronto and shows belief in his teammates, GM, and coach, can help to create a more unified culture in the locker room.

And emphasizing veterans like Tavares or Tanev to leadership roles can bring knowledge and a winning pedigree.

In all, Berube needs to adapt, not throw out his original values of accountability, physicality, and mental toughness. With overlays of strategic adaptability, health and chemistry considerations, trust in building talent, and organizational collaboration construction, the Maple Leafs could finally find the playoff success they were looking for.

Leafs fans can hope that Berube can bring out something that this roster has desperately been missing: a true playoff contender.