We’ve just about wrapped up the first regular season under Brad Treliving as general manager and Craig Berube as head coach. These two have brought a different feel to a Toronto Maple Leafs team that played with a high-octane offence and a strong possession game under former general manager Kyle Dubas and former head coach Sheldon Keefe.

Whether that’s a good thing or a bad thing will ultimately come down to how they perform in the playoffs this season and over the next few years, but considering it’s April and the team has a four point lead in the hunt for their first Atlantic Division crown in the Auston Matthews era, it’s fair to say that things are off to a good start. The wins haven’t always been pretty, but there’s been a clear emphasis on team defence, and with the acquisitions of Chris Tanev, Oliver Ekman-Larsson, and Brandon Carlo over the past ten months, it’s clear that they’ve improved in that area.

Coming off of a convincing 5-0 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets, Berube gave a shoutout to his team’s defensive efforts, with extra props for Carlo.

“The defence was excellent tonight,” Berube told reporters following the game I thought Brandon Carlo was really good, not that the other guys weren’t, but he stuck out. I thought he had an excellent game, just eating pucks, killing plays. Simple. He’s a vacuum.”

Carlo has fit in seamlessly with an already-strong Leafs defensive corps, adding another stable presence on the penalty kill, and his pairing with Morgan Rielly has been beneficial for both parties.

Berube also gave Philippe Myers props for a strong game after sitting in the press box for a while.

“Myers did very well, I thought,” Berube continued. “He’s been out a long time, but he was simple with the puck, made hard plays, defended well. He had a solid game for us.”

Berube also offered shoutouts to a pair of young players in Matthew Knies and Nick Robertson, noting the former’s ‘playoff-style hockey’ that he’s been implementing over the past couple of weeks, and spoke highly of Robertson’s effort after being scratched for a few games.

“Like I said this morning, he got taken out and then we were winning games. The guy’s got great speed, he can score goals, he can shoot,” Berube said of Robertson. “He’s played pretty good hockey for us this year, it’s not like he hasn’t. When he has the opportunity, he uses his speed really well and capitalizes on some chances. It’s being defensively responsible and managing the puck.”

The Maple Leafs sit four points ahead of the Tampa Bay Lightning and five ahead of the Florida Panthers, and will play both teams in a heated back-to-back next Tuesday and Wednesday. Both games could have massive implications on playoff seeding, and if the Leafs want to give themselves the best possible odds at going on a meaningful playoff run, Berube says they need to stick to what they did on Saturday night and in their past few games.

“Staying in games, tight games where there’s tight checking. Not opening it up, not forcing things and getting frustrated, then taking it over in the third period.”