Craig Berube is excited not to hear the phrase ‘Core Four’ anymore

Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube is eager to turn the page on the Core Four era and begin anew with the roster assembled.

While the team for the most part remains intact from what they iced in Game 7 against the Florida Panthers, the obvious exception is Mitch Marner, who was dealt to the Vegas Golden Knights in a sign-and-trade. Nicolas Roy went the other way, fundamentally altering the roster’s makeup.

When speaking with reporters at the start of training camp on Wednesday, Berube made it clear that while Marner will be missed, they will make it work with what remains.

“What excites me is that I don’t have to hear ‘Core Four’ anymore,” he said. “We lost a real good player here, but we added three good players to our lineup. I’m excited to see where they fit in and how they look. It’s a change, we all know that. Losing Mitch and bringing in three new players is a change.”

Beyond Roy, the Leafs also acquired Dakota Joshua and Matias Maccelli via trade in the early going of the offseason. Roy should provide some value as an all-situations guy, Joshua will bring some physicality and two-way play in the bottom-six, while Maccelli should help mitigate the loss of Marner from a playmaking perspective.

He is in strong consideration to slot on the top line with Auston Matthews and Matthew Knies, though Max Domi is also in contention despite being day-to-day with a lower-body injury.

“Maccelli’s a good playmaker and we know Max is one of those guys too. We’ll see how it looks. It might not be those guys if it doesn’t work,” he said. “I think Domi and Maccelli are great passers and that’s what that line needs. Will it work? I don’t know. It will take some time to form chemistry. Max has chemistry with Auston; they’ve played together the past couple of years.”

While it remains to be seen who will end up securing that spot, there are going to be plenty of other battles throughout the roster to secure a place in the lineup. Whether that be the bottom-six or slotting in as the sixth defenceman, a healthy internal competition is exactly how Berube wants the roster to be assembled.

One player who is going to be in such a battle is Nick Robertson, who remains mired in trade rumours despite securing a one-year extension in the offseason. Berube didn’t reveal where he envisioned the sniper will slot, but is happy that Robertson is sticking around.

“Nicky is a hard worker who puts the puck in the net. He’s definitely a part of this team and we’ll see where he fits,” he said. “I can’t tell you exactly where he’s going to play and I can’t tell you where a lot of guys are going to play. We’re glad he’s here.”