"It's a tough travel schedule, mixed in with a lot of late nights on the road trip," Maple Leafs' head coach Craig Berube said. "That's where you have to be smarter, manage the game a little bit better."
There will be some clips that we use, both good and bad. The big thing: I think we had nine turnovers, and seven of them became scoring chances the other way. This is not a team you can do that against - or against any team, really. We didn't manage the puck very well, especially in that second period. It was back a few games, so that is something that we've talked a lot about and worked on.
I have been playing a lot of minutes down there, and that is fun. Obviously, I want to be here, but you can't really look in terms of what-ifs. I have been around here for a while with this organization and in the NHL. If you keep playing that (what-if) game, it's not good for you mentally. It is just about putting one foot in front of the other, working hard, and being a good teammate.
Reading between the lines, it has seemed from the outside like the player group - or some of the leaders in it, at least - might think the crowd should do more to stay on the team's side and help get them going in games, while the fans have (fairly) felt like the players need to give them more reasons to get fired up with their effort level on the ice.
Without fully understanding what Brendan Shanahan did on a daily basis, it seems very likely that not having someone in his role this season has been a hindrance to the Maple Leafs. The Maple Leafs parted ways with Shanahan on May 23rd, and this isn't about making a case that was the wrong decision but Keith Pelley's decision to keep the position vacant was.
I don't know if it got away from us. If you look at scoring chances, we out-chanced them in that period, but in the defensive zone, they had the one goal where we just didn't seal up. We got stick lifted, first of all, and then they made a play up the wall to Ovi. We have to have that backdoor sealed up.
Toronto has struggled out of the gate in a big way. From sloppy defensive coverage, to underachieving superstars, to injury woes, it has not been pretty through the first month of the 2025-26 season. Treliving has been rumoured to be searching for a top-six forward on the trade market, and also a right-handed top-four defenceman, but there's one serious problem. The Maple Leafs' GM has nothing to work with in negotiations.
You can watch the Toronto Maple Leafs with reverent attention, and it may still not be enough to figure out how this team operates. It appeared that the Maple Leafs were turning the corner, boasting the best 5-on-5 offence in the NHL. Saturday evening presented a winnable game against a divisional rival, but the Maple Leafs fell short in a 5-3 loss to an undermanned Boston Bruins side.
What is the concern level after a 3-3-1 start for the Maple Leafs? (0:50) The team's issues in the second period through seven games, and Craig Berube's messy/disjointed lineup situation up front (7:00) The team's poor response in the third period after the terrible second period vs. New Jersey, and the lack of accountability so far (19:00) Anthony Stolarz's fiery comments after the loss to Seattle (23:30) The Leafs' lack of an emotional leader (38:30)
He was great for us. I learned a lot from him. He's a super human and a really good coach. We were very happy that he got another head job in Seattle. They're playing really good defense and aren't giving up much. They take care of the middle of the ice really well. They have some good young players over there. To me, they're defending really well.
There was a lot of good, and there was stuff we have to work on, obviously. We did a good enough job to win the game. I thought our third period was our best period. We did a good job protecting the lead and closing it out. The goalie was good. We had some players who were really good tonight. Overall, our puck play wasn't great. That was the root of our problems, in general.
Maple Leafs camp opened on Wednesday, and on a wall in the media room was the motivational slogan "No grit, no grind, no greatness." Eagle-eyed observers noted that this is a minor but significant change from what was printed there last season: "No grit. No grind. No greatness." The periods have been replaced with commas, after the motto was roundly mocked by those pointing out that when read in plain English, the slogan implied that the Leafs possessed none of those things.
As always, these games are difficult to evaluate; played at the beginning of the hockey schedule, it's a group of young players who have never played together facing opposition who have also never played together, leading to some chaos and a lack of structure. With that caveat out of the way, here are some of my impressions from the weekend:
