Scenes from Leafs’ morning skate: Berube unhappy with puck movement, Hildeby will start vs. Canucks

Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube wasn’t thrilled about his team’s performance during Saturday’s morning skate and let them know about it.

Berube was heard yelling “f—ing move the puck, move it!” during the team’s power play sessions. Morgan Rielly joined Auston Matthews, William Nylander, Mitch Marner and John Tavares on the team’s top unit, while Matthew Knies, Max Domi, Bobby McMann, Nick Robertson and Oliver Ekman-Larsson formed the second unit, with Max Pacioretty occasionally rotating in.

Dennis Hildeby will start for the Maple Leafs, giving Joseph Woll some needed rest. Berube explained Hildeby will get the start, in large part due to Woll’s increased volume, and it appears that Woll will start January 14 against the Dallas Stars.

“Wollsy has played a lot and I was just thinking ahead too, with Dallas coming in. I liked Dennis’ last game. Mentors trip, travel, travel home, that’s why I went with Hildeby,” Berube explained after Saturday’s morning skate concluded.

Berube yells at power play unit for lack of puck movement

It’s bound to happen in NHL practices, but Berube wasn’t happy with Toronto’s power play. Berube was audibly yelling at the team’s power play to get better movement, and they responded in kind. Toronto’s head coach spent extensive team drawing up plays after line rushes concludes, with an apparent emphasis on working on 3-on-2 scenarios and rush defence.

McMann-Domi-Robertson reunited

Toronto unlocked secondary scoring in transition with its third line, and Bobby McMann was reunited with Max Domi and Nick Robertson. McMann’s presence has facilitated Domi and Robertson’s best results of the season, and it’ll be interesting see how this unit functions in transition against the Canucks on Saturday, as it has been Toronto’s most productive bottom-six unit this year.

McCabe progressing, Stolarz may resume individual sessions next week

Berube provided some brief updates on Jake McCabe and Anthony Stolarz’s injury status on Saturday. McCabe is on injured reserve through January 12, after suffering an upper-body injury in a fight against Philadelphia Flyers forward Garnet Hathaway on January 5.

“Hopefully it’s not too long, let’s hope it keeps going. He’s feeling good, he’s doing well, that’s the best update I can give you on him,” Berube said of McCabe.

Stolarz has been out of the lineup since suffering an injury on December 12, and underwent a procedure to remove a loose body from his knee. Berube said that Stolarz could resume individual sessions next week, and will need to get some work in before rejoining the Maple Leafs. Stolarz will likely rejoin the Maple Leafs by the end of January, but his progress will be closely monitored.

Maple Leafs’ projected lineup:

Matthew Knies-Auston Matthews-Mitch Marner 

Max Pacioretty-John Tavares-William Nylander

Bobby McMann-Max Domi-Nick Robertson

Connor Dewar-David Kampf-Steven Lorentz

Morgan Rielly-Philippe Myers

Oliver Ekman-Larsson-Chris Tanev

Simon Benoit-Conor Timmins 

Dennis Hildeby (confirmed starter) 

Joseph Woll