Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube is a fan of what Jacob Quillan brings to the table as he is set to make his season debut on Tuesday against the St. Louis Blues.

The opportunity has emerged as a result of Nicolas Roy being slated to miss the contest due to an upper-body injury, and he is also expected to miss the next couple of games according to Berube. That means Quillan is going to get plenty of runway to prove himself amid a stretch where the Leafs are struggling and ravaged by injuries.

Quillan has been off to a strong start with the AHL’s Toronto Marlies, where he has amassed 14 points (two goals and 12 assists) in 14 games played before his call-up.

“Q, he’s got great speed. He plays both wing and centre, but he brings speed to the game,” Berube said to reporters after the morning skate. “ He’s a competitive kid, but his speed is what drives him. He’s fast, he’s powerful for a young kid. He’s going to bring energy to the game. He’s going to work. He’s going to compete, that’s what he’s going to bring to the game tonight.”

Securing anything positive has been difficult to come by for the Leafs lately, who enter this game on a five-game losing streak after falling to the Chicago Blackhawks on Saturday. While there were signs of improvement, the lack of confidence in their game was evident in the third period where they allowed two unanswered goals to fall behind and lose in regulation.

GM Brad Treliving gave his bench boss a public vote of confidence in his ability to right the ship with the group during his quarter-season media availability, saying that he will do what he can to support Berube and the coaching staff. Berube, meanwhile, says that putting his head down and working with the team is all he can do right now.

“I think just keep drilling it into the players, keep working with players. Help ’em, teach ’em and just get tighter as a group on the ice,” Berube said. “ Playing in all zones and doing the job where they are supposed to be. It’s more consistency, I talked about it a lot. That’s our job. My job is to get these guys, help these guys try to get going in the right way. It’s their job as players to understand what they’re gonna do, shift to shift, prepare and do the job.”

As far as whether there is a disconnect with the players, Berube doesn’t feel that is the case but added that it is not his question to answer. What he can’t deny is that the effort could be better on a more consistent basis, and the hope is that things can start trending in the right direction. Especially on a night when the Leafs will be playing a team Berube spent many years with and created fond memories, including capturing the 2019 Stanley Cup.

Perhaps that could start with the new guys still in the lineup in Dakota Joshua and Matias Maccelli stepping up their game and playing to their capabilities more often than not.

“I think Nic Roy’s game was really coming. He was playing some real good hockey for us and doing what he does and what we brought him in for to do,” Berube said. “ I loved Joshua’s last game. I thought that line was very impactful in the game. Maccelli, he’s had some moments for sure. Again I talk about consistently, we need more on a consistent basis. He’s capable of doing it. We’ve seen it, and we’ve seen what he can do. We need it to be every game, every night.”

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