Maple Leafs Push Back on Toronto Market Pressure Narrative

Those inside the Maple Leafs organization, however, didn’t echo the concern and straight denied that the reality has any truth to it.

"I love playing in Toronto," team captain Auston Matthews said. "That kind of stuff is just outside noise that isn’t really focused on or talked about too much in our locker room."

Berube was direct when asked about pressure affecting his players.

"It's a hard market and it's a great market," Berube said. "Pressure comes from inside the locker room—that's it. 

"Your teammates are the most important people. And that, to me, is the only pressure."

John Tavares described Toronto as "an unbelievable place to play" and dismissed the idea that expectations were a burden.

"You feel that on a daily basis," Tavares said. "That can't outweigh the pleasure and the privilege and the opportunity that it brings."

Goaltender Joseph Woll also rejected the notion of feeling added pressure for playing in Toronto.

"The thing about pressure is it comes from a good place," Woll said. "It comes from us having fans that care... there’s nowhere I’d rather play."

Leafs winger Mitch Marner also chimed in.

"There's pressure everywhere," Marner said. "We put the most pressure on ourselves. We hold ourselves to such a high accountability. 

"You want to win every single year. It'd be lovely if you could. It's just hard to do."