Craig Berube Breaks His Silence Regarding the Toronto Maple Leafs' Lineup Depth
Head coach Craig Berube seems a bit fed up with his lineup not producing and had some harsh words for the Maple Leafs depth players regarding their results.
When GM Brad Treliving hired Craig Berube, he got a no-nonsense, old-school, tough as nails coach who wouldn't put up with any guff regardless if you're a superstar or a fourth-liner. Berube expects the best out of everyone and makes sure to instill that hard-working mentality into all of his players.
So the man affectionately known as 'Chief' is getting pretty fed up with the lack of production from the Toronto lineup. Speaking to the media after practice, the Maple Leafs bench boss spoke about how he needs other players to step up:
Rely on three or four guys, they cannot. It seems to be the same names who are topping the Maple Leafs roster such as Mitch Marner, William Nylander, Auston Matthews (when healthy), and John Tavares.
It's been miserable for everyone else; from Nick Robertson's unbelievable downfall to Max Domi's hot and cold consistency to the fact that anyone on the last two lines has barely done anything with only Bobby McMann and Steve Lorentz having any redeemable stats. While they have role players, it seems that the offensive part of the game has been lost on several players.
While we can't expect Ryan Reaves to light it up, the success of Toronto's bottom half of the lineup relies on Pontus Holmberg, David Kampf, Nick Robertson, and Max Domi. The only one who has done anything of note is Domi, and that was within the first four games of the season. It's depressing to watch the Maple Leafs lineup do so well at points, and then put these guys on the ice who can't do anything offensively. It actively handicaps Toronto regardless of how good they are defensively.
With several trade rumors circulating regarding Kampf, Holmberg, and Robertson, their time with the Maple Leafs could be coming to an end if they don't pick it up. All have shown they are capable offensively, and they have had more than enough games to get something figured out, and it's not just a case of bad puck luck.
The Toronto Maple Leafs will not be successful this season, especially come playoff time, if they don't start getting better production from their team. If they don't, it'll be out with the old and in with the new, whether it's through a trade or the Marlies.
| POLL | ||
Does Craig Berube need to shuffle his lineup to make his depth players produce more? | ||
| Yes, something needs to change | 204 | 72.3 % |
| No, they are doing fine | 78 | 27.7 % |
| List of polls | ||
