The Toronto Maple Leafs dropped their eighth-straight decision, firmly embracing the tank. Meanwhile, bench boss Craig Berube remains clueless about the situation.
Following Tuesday’s loss to the Montreal Canadiens, Berube had no answer to questions about why the Maple Leafs just can’t get their act together.
When asked about why the club has been unable to put together a full 60-minutes of hockey, the Leafs’ head coach offered his best guesstimate.
“It’s tough to say. But it’s hard to win in this league if you don’t get it. You don’t have to dominate a period, but you have to be in the game. You’ve got to create, and you’ve got to defend.”
While Berube didn’t throw any of his players under the bus necessarily, he continues to shift the blame away from himself. He added that the Maple Leafs have had good stretches, but not good enough to win games.
“Throughout this stretch, there’s been a lot of good hockey, but then there’s that stretch of, if it’s a period or a 10-minute stretch and a period, where these teams scored two, three goals on us. And right now, we can’t find the back of the net enough. So when this is going on, we’ve got to keep the puck out of our net as much as possible, hopefully find our groove with the scoring. But we need more guys to dig in and contribute than there is right now.”
At this point, there’s little doubt the Maple Leafs have pretty much quit on the ice. That’s been evident in every game since coming out of the Olympic break.
A Race to the Bottom
With the season pretty much out of hand months ago, the Maple Leafs embraced a race to the bottom. Following Tuesday night’s 3-1 defeat, the Leafs remain on track to pick seventh in the 2026 NHL Draft.
In that case, the Leafs’ pick would transfer to the Boston Bruins. But there’s always the chance that the Maple Leafs could move up into the top five and get their pick back. That prospect would depend on the NHL Lottery at this point.
The team is trying not to leave anything to chance. Finishing in the bottom-five would give the Leafs the best chance to get their 2026 first-rounder back. Most importantly, it gives the Maple Leafs a chance to land an impact player.
Maple Leafs May Look to Change Behind the Bench
Part of the chatter that’s picking up is a potential change behind the bench this offseason. The on-ice product clearly shows how the Maple Leafs have not gotten over last year’s Game 7 loss against the Florida Panthers in the playoffs.
The mental impact of that loss carried over into this season. While it seemed like the team had rallied in December, the fact is that whatever momentum there was went down the drain.
Now, the Maple Leafs will be looking for a new voice next season. With pretty much the same roster heading into the summer, the management core will need to find someone who can turn the page and bring in a new era of hockey in Toronto.
Maple Leafs Bench Boss Clueless after Latest Loss