<p>Connor Dewar and the Toronto Maple Leafs avoided arbitration and settled on a <a href="https://theleafsnation.com/news/maple-leafs-sign-connor-dewar-to-1-year-deal-worth-1-18m">one-year, $1.18 million contract</a> recently. Now, it&#8217;s time for Dewar to impress his new coach.</p>
<p>With Craig Berube behind the bench in Toronto, Dewar has a clean slate with the Maple Leafs and a chance to carve himself out a role for next season. His in-your-face style of play and his willingness to drive to the net will appeal to the intense Berube. The two have a quiet intensity about them and having this type of bench boss now in Toronto should be exactly what the doctor ordered for Dewar.</p>
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<p>After a deadline deal with the Minnesota Wild last season, where a 2026 fourth-round pick and forward Dmitry Ovchinnikov went the other way, Dewar joined the Maple Leafs for 17 regular season games, recording one goal and four assists. He also appeared in six of the seven first-round Stanley Cup Playoff games against the Boston Bruins, collecting one assist and landing 14 hits. While Dewar has more to give offensively, he was defensively sound for the Maple Leafs and very consistent with his physical presence. This is exactly what Berube will expect at training camp and into next season.</p>
<h2>Dewar&#8217;s versatility and intensity benefit his chances</h2>
<p>When general manager Brad Treliving took over last summer, he wanted to add some more piss and vinegar to the Leafs and that&#8217;s Dewar to a tee. Dewar has a great work ethic, he&#8217;s hard on the forecheck, he loves to throw the body, he doesn&#8217;t mind dropping the gloves when needed and he&#8217;s also one of the better penalty-killing forwards in the league. With Berube&#8217;s coaching style and his intense presence behind the bench, it should be a match made in heaven.</p>
<p>Last season during the regular season and into the playoffs, Sheldon Keefe used Dewar a ton with David Kampf and Ryan Reaves, and the trio put up some very reasonable numbers defensively. They could get another look together under Berube next season and while the focus remains on the defensive side of the puck, look for Dewar and Kampf to show off some of the offensive chemistry they built from last season. Here&#8217;s an example, where Kampf scored in Game 1 against the Bruins:</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">
<p lang="de" dir="ltr">Kämpfer gets us one back! <a href="https://t.co/FeUrqbudoa">pic.twitter.com/FeUrqbudoa</a></p>
<p>&mdash; Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) <a href="https://twitter.com/MapleLeafs/status/1781870534944292940?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 21, 2024</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<p>As far as where exactly Dewar lines up, look for the 25-year-old to battle for a bottom-six role in 2024-25 and more specifically the left-wing position on the fourth line. Being able to play either wing or down the middle is very beneficial for Dewar, as his versatility is something the team values.</p>
<p>There are a ton of question marks when it comes to what to expect from the likes of Kampf, Pontus Holmberg, and Reaves, along with prospects Fraser Minten and Easton Cowan. Nobody is a lock at this point and it&#8217;s going to be fun to see how training camp and the preseason play out.  Dewar will look to do what he does best and play on the &#8216;right&#8217; side of the puck, be an efficient penalty killer and do what he can to chip in on offence on a more consistent basis. Dewar has more to give the Maple Leafs on the score sheet and if he&#8217;s able to get off to a good start, he should be able to reach 10-15 goals next season. Between the Wild and the Leafs, he scored a career-high 11 last season, in 74 total games.</p>
<div class="jetpack-video-wrapper"><iframe loading="lazy" title="Reaction: Leafs Re-Sign RFA F Connor Dewar To 1-Year Deal Worth $1.18 Million" width="1424" height="801" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/WrSBJEtrLc0?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>
<p>When it comes to how his contract stacks up, considering Toronto is so top-heavy within the salary cap, having &#8216;cheap&#8217; contracts are going to be important to mix into the roster. Treliving has spent a ton of money upgrading his defence core this summer but didn&#8217;t do much upfront besides re-signing Max Domi, and now Dewar.</p>
<p>Nevertheless, there&#8217;s plenty of internal competition among the Leafs forwards so besides maybe a couple of PTO&#8217;s being handed out closer to training camp, don&#8217;t expect any more big moves from the Maple Leafs. With the way the roster aligns, Dewar has a great chance to make the team next season. He&#8217;ll need to ensure his intensity is sky high, his work ethic is unmatched and he must continue to be defensively sound and physically present.</p>
<p>If he becomes tough to play against, Berube won&#8217;t only be Dewar&#8217;s head coach, he&#8217;ll be his new best friend.</p>
<h3>Sponsored by bet365</h3>
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Connor Dewar and the Toronto Maple Leafs avoided arbitration and settled on a <a href="https://theleafsnation.com/news/maple-leafs-sign-connor-dewar-to-1-year-deal-worth-1-18m">one-year, $1.18 million contract</a> recently. Now, it's time for Dewar to impress his new coach.

With Craig Berube behind the bench in Toronto, Dewar has a clean slate with the Maple Leafs and a chance to carve himself out a role for next season. His in-your-face style of play and his willingness to drive to the net will appeal to the intense Berube. The two have a quiet intensity about them and having this type of bench boss now in Toronto should be exactly what the doctor ordered for Dewar.
<div class="bam-inline-promotion-block" data-max-length="2" data-placement-id="2106" data-context="web-content-promocard" data-property-id="324"></div>
After a deadline deal with the Minnesota Wild last season, where a 2026 fourth-round pick and forward Dmitry Ovchinnikov went the other way, Dewar joined the Maple Leafs for 17 regular season games, recording one goal and four assists. He also appeared in six of the seven first-round Stanley Cup Playoff games against the Boston Bruins, collecting one assist and landing 14 hits. While Dewar has more to give offensively, he was defensively sound for the Maple Leafs and very consistent with his physical presence. This is exactly what Berube will expect at training camp and into next season.
<h2>Dewar's versatility and intensity benefit his chances</h2>
When general manager Brad Treliving took over last summer, he wanted to add some more piss and vinegar to the Leafs and that's Dewar to a tee. Dewar has a great work ethic, he's hard on the forecheck, he loves to throw the body, he doesn't mind dropping the gloves when needed and he's also one of the better penalty-killing forwards in the league. With Berube's coaching style and his intense presence behind the bench, it should be a match made in heaven.

Last season during the regular season and into the playoffs, Sheldon Keefe used Dewar a ton with David Kampf and Ryan Reaves, and the trio put up some very reasonable numbers defensively. They could get another look together under Berube next season and while the focus remains on the defensive side of the puck, look for Dewar and Kampf to show off some of the offensive chemistry they built from last season. Here's an example, where Kampf scored in Game 1 against the Bruins:

https://twitter.com/MapleLeafs/status/1781870534944292940?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

As far as where exactly Dewar lines up, look for the 25-year-old to battle for a bottom-six role in 2024-25 and more specifically the left-wing position on the fourth line. Being able to play either wing or down the middle is very beneficial for Dewar, as his versatility is something the team values.

There are a ton of question marks when it comes to what to expect from the likes of Kampf, Pontus Holmberg, and Reaves, along with prospects Fraser Minten and Easton Cowan. Nobody is a lock at this point and it's going to be fun to see how training camp and the preseason play out.  Dewar will look to do what he does best and play on the 'right' side of the puck, be an efficient penalty killer and do what he can to chip in on offence on a more consistent basis. Dewar has more to give the Maple Leafs on the score sheet and if he's able to get off to a good start, he should be able to reach 10-15 goals next season. Between the Wild and the Leafs, he scored a career-high 11 last season, in 74 total games.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WrSBJEtrLc0

When it comes to how his contract stacks up, considering Toronto is so top-heavy within the salary cap, having 'cheap' contracts are going to be important to mix into the roster. Treliving has spent a ton of money upgrading his defence core this summer but didn't do much upfront besides re-signing Max Domi, and now Dewar.

Nevertheless, there's plenty of internal competition among the Leafs forwards so besides maybe a couple of PTO's being handed out closer to training camp, don't expect any more big moves from the Maple Leafs. With the way the roster aligns, Dewar has a great chance to make the team next season. He'll need to ensure his intensity is sky high, his work ethic is unmatched and he must continue to be defensively sound and physically present.

If he becomes tough to play against, Berube won't only be Dewar's head coach, he'll be his new best friend.
<h3>Sponsored by bet365</h3>
<div class="bam-inline-promotion" data-property-id="324" data-promotion-id="18983" data-context="web-content-promocard"></div>

Where does Connor Dewar fit in a Craig Berube lineup?

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