For the second time in the Auston Matthews era, the Leafs’ core players will have to learn a new system under a new coach. After playing under Mike Babcock from 2016-2019 and Sheldon Keefe from 2019 until this past summer, there will be a new bench boss as the team looks to take the next step and make something of their talented group beyond one round win.

Craig Berube, who won the Stanley Cup with the St. Louis Blues after taking over for then-head coach Mike Yeo back in 2018-19, was one of the most sought-after head coaches on the market after the Blues let him go in December of this past season. And, when the Leafs fired Sheldon Keefe after their fourth first-round exit in his five years as head coach, they wasted little time hiring Berube to be their next coach. A veteran of over 1000 NHL games, primarily as an enforcer, Berube is a vastly different style of head coach than Keefe, and how his coaching style translates to the team in front of him will be an interesting storyline to follow when the season kicks off on October 9th.

In a recent interview with the Toronto Sun, Berube shared some insight on what to expect from his team in 2024-25.

“We want to be a team first,” “When I look at teams that win, it’s always about the team and what’s best for the team. It’s not about individuals. We want to play aggressive, physical hockey. I like to have a heavy team. And we want to play fast. And when I say heavy, I don’t mean running around and fighting people. Our team in St. Louis probably had the least number of fights in the NHL. We just played hard hockey, good in front of both nets.”

The quip about his team’s lack of fights was an interesting one. Seeing your team stand up to their opponents in the form of dropping the gloves is obviously something that will make your team seem tough and satisfy the craving that so many fans have for a ‘tough team’, but ultimately, the Leafs don’t need more fights. They need the aforementioned tough play in front of their own net and in front of the opposing nets. Those greasy net-front goals are quite often the goals that win you crucial games and series in the playoffs, and the emphasis on that is something that should pay off for the team.

“We want a team that’s hard to play against,” Berube said. “We don’t want to just outscore our problems. We want to play good, sound, structured, disciplined, hard hockey.”

A team that’s hard to play against is something that general manager Brad Treliving has emphasized in the past, in the form of a need for “piss and vinegar” as he said last offseason. Although they didn’t come out victorious against the Boston Bruins, they wore them down more than they did any other season, and it was the first of their series in the Matthews era where they were quite literally one goal away from advancing. With more of an emphasis on this hard-nosed, hard-to-play-against hockey, the Leafs should hopefully position themselves better to control their fate in the regular season and give themselves better odds at advancing past the first round again.