A quick mix of the things we gleaned from the week of hockey, serious and less so, and rolling four lines deep. Written in a Russian basement while binging on cigarettes and cashews.
1. They say it’s not supposed to be easy. But it’s not supposed to be this hard, is it?
The Toronto Maple Leafs’ disastrous and dispiriting start might not be Craig Berube’s fault. But it could become the head coach’s problem.
The affable, straight-shooting, Cup-winning bench boss swiftly endeared himself to MLSE president Keith Pelley, who likes soccer and believes coaches should have a say in roster makeup. Pelley, we gather, is in no rush to shell out millions to a man to not coach hockey for the next two-plus seasons.
But there comes a time when the Pelley-Treliving-Berube plan, which was originally to hoist a Stanley Cup, must adapt to reality.
The 2025-26 Leafs are no good and showing no signs of getting good.
Despite Joseph Woll’s stellar play in net, Berube’s bunch still hasn’t won a game in regulation since Woll returned.
The “upper body” injuries to original 1A netminder Anthony Stolarz and top shutdown D-man Chris Tanev are so severe that neither is travelling with the team.
Toronto rates 31st in shots against (31.3) and 29th in goals against (3.63). All the coach’s yelling and encouraging and rotational healthy-scratching is falling on deaf ears and sluggish legs.
This team got called out from up high for being too vanilla and has doubled down with a second scoop.
Treliving must accept that the 2026 Cup is a pipe dream, that he can’t waste any of his minimal assets to salvage a roster that is struggling to dominate a game, let alone a best-of-seven.
Does he fire Berube against his original wishes and cross his fingers for a dead-cat bounce? Squeak into the post-season, keep the streak alive, and salvage a few valuable April gate receipts?
Or does the exec treat this troubled season as a chance to rejig and reset?
Cut losses and creatively adapt.
The Tampa Bay Lightning went to a conference final in 2016, missed the playoffs entirely in 2017, then qualified in each of the next springs, going all the way twice.
The Vegas Golden Knights went to Round 2 in 2021, missed the playoffs entirely in 2022, then won a Cup in 2023.
The Boston Bruins had an eight-year playoff run that included a Cup Final appearance and a Presidents’ Trophy, became unexpected deadline sellers last March, then hopped right back in the mix this fall.
The Leafs are too old and contract-committed for a full-blown rebuild today, but that doesn’t mean Treliving can’t make the most of the crummy hand he’s dealt himself here.
Toronto has sellable pieces. It can stock something in the cupboard and make changes. Be proactive.
That requires a new vision, however.
The fans have seen enough.
Time to start thinking about Plan B.
Or scapegoat the coach and desperately chase Plan A.
2. Tom Wilson leads the Washington Capitals in goals (13), points (26), penalty minutes (52), and hits (67).
His chances of punching a ticket to Milan and representing his homeland are rocketing.
Wilson now has Hockey Canada shoulder-checking for him as often as a small puck-retrieving defenceman.
“You see big 43 out there, you’re aware he’s on the ice,” says Troy Stecher.
The 225-pound Wilson is tracking his first point-per-game campaign and still harming targets with hard, clean checks.
“Special player. You don’t see many of them anymore, right? He can score, fight, hit — he can do it all,” says fellow '94-born Toronto product Scott Laughton.
“I’ve played against him since we were really young, and he’s always been a really good player. He’s kind of taking it to the next level here.”
Coaches and GMs dream of dressing a Wilson type. So, how come power forwards of his ilk are so rare?
“That’s a good question,” Laughton replies. “There’s a lot of guys that are that big. I just think it’s the way he moves. He can get there. He can travel distance. He’s fast. So, yeah, it’s hard to come by.”
“I don’t know if there’s many guys built like that,” John Tavares agrees. “A lot of speed, size, obviously physically extremely strong, and then his ability to score, play-make, play in all situations. Yeah, it’s a unique type of player.”
Tavares draws a loose comparison to Toronto left wing Matthew Knies, another horse who routinely ranks among team leaders in both points and hits. Ask Zach Whitecloud if Knies can summon anger.
Could Knies, 23, use Wilson as a blueprint for what force he could develop into?
“Definitely,” Berube says.
But they’ve been nurtured differently.
“Wilson came in the league as more of a… I wouldn’t say an enforcer, but that was a big part of him, his identity, coming out of junior hockey,” Berube says. “Knies, he comes out of college hockey. It’s a different mindset, right? But, yes, for sure, he could be that type of player to a certain extent.”
3. Once a potent power-play team that is now converting at a dismal 15 per cent, the Maple Leafs are getting desperate to spark something at five-on-four.
Berube has been loath to go back to the five-forward top unit since part-time defenceman Mitch Marner left the squad, but he pulled it out this week amid a stretch where Toronto scored just one PPG in seven games.
The formation requires Auston Matthews to patrol the point.
Odd seeing one of the game’s greatest pure goal scorers so far away from the net. Alex Ovechkin and Steven Stamkos made a career off the flanks.
“For me, it’s about him getting the puck more on his stick and using his shot, and his ability up top to not only elude defenders, but his shot for sure, and making plays to the flanks,” Berube explains. “He’s got good quickness up there.
“But we got to try to get something going here on the PP, because we need our power play to help us score goals.”
Matthews has one power-play goal this season. He had 10 last season and 18 the year before that.
Tavares says Matthews’s ability to adapt to new positions and tasks is up there with anyone in the league. So, now he’s running point?
“If you look at last year with Mitch, Mitch put a lot of pucks into that (slot) area. With Johnny (Tavares) and Kniesy at the net, we scored a lot of goals that way. Those guys are heavy sticks. They can tip pucks good around the net,” Berube continues. “Matthews, his shot’s got more volume on it than Mitch’s. But he can sift pucks in there.
“I found that when he’s on the flank, they take him away a lot. So, he’s not getting the shots; he’s not getting the volume. We’re not getting the puck in his hands enough. And hopefully up top, he gets the puck more.”
The risk without a defenceman on the ice is giving up chances the other way. The Leafs did just that Wednesday, and Joseph Woll needed to bail the five forwards out on a three-on-one short-handed rush.
“When you have five forwards, the ears perk up a little bit more for the killers,” Matthews says. “So just being there and supporting each other when there’s breakdowns and they’re coming the other way (is key). I think the more repetitions we get, the more comfortable we’ll feel.”
“They’re just looking at numbers from people that could be in Russia in a basement, having cigarettes and cashews, telling them their scoring chances.” —Vancouver Canucks coach Adam Foote, backing internal analytics versus those widely available on public websites
5. There is no Keeper of the Calder Cup, Sammy Blais learned, when he had to get in his car and go fetch the championship trophy himself last summer.
A white-gloved official hovered over Blais for his first Cup party back home in Quebec. That was with Stanley, in the summer of 2019.
Blais threw a bigger bash for that one, but his time with the chalice was restricted from 9 a.m. to 12:30 a.m. Curfew kicked in, and Stanley was escorted away.
After winning the 2025 Calder with the Abbotsford Canucks, though, Blais had a full two days with the trophy before lugging it back to the airport himself.
“I had a couple sips of beer in it,” he shrugs, during a modest gathering with family.
But the highlight was filling the AHL’s prize with Gatorade for his kids and his brother’s kids.
“The one with the Stanley Cup was a lot bigger than the one with the Calder,” Blais says. “It was awesome, though. It was a lot of fun.”
After a full and productive season in the minors (40 points in 51 games, plus another 19 in the Calder run), the fourth-liner’s NHL comeback has been rocky at best.
His boyhood Canadiens unexpectedly waived him before he played a single game, he was snatched by Toronto and used for a scattered eight games, then got reclaimed by Montreal this week.
“It’s nice to be wanted,” he says.
The first time he got waived, Blais was with his family, packing to drive to AHL Laval. He saw the Leafs claimed him, so he just drove six hours to Toronto instead.
Never feeling totally secure, Blais lived out of a hotel, and his family stayed back in Quebec.
Having fellow francophones like Simon Benoit, Nicolas Roy, and Philippe Myers in the room helped. So did the confidence earned the hard way, on the farm.
“Last year, going back in the AHL, I think I found my game back. Played a lot of minutes. I’m just not the guy that can hit. I can make good plays with the puck too and hold on to it,” says Blais, who did pitch in three points in minimal usage as a Leaf.
“For sure, it was hard mentally at first. But I went there with a good mindset, and winning the Calder Cup was obviously a big plus. And I really enjoyed my year. And if I had to do it again, I’d do it again. So, it was awesome. And just happy to be back here in the NHL.”
6. The scary thing about the Edmonton Oilers’ struggles — in addition to the obviously shaky netminding (league-worst .860 save percentage) and the lack of answers and the recent injury to the surprisingly important Jack Roslovic — is that the team rolls out two of the sport’s most dynamic offensive threats and is still seeing middling production at even strength.
Edmonton rates just 15th in five-on-five goals (48).
Absolutely, the goaltending needs an upgrade — are we sure Jordan Binnington or Tristan Jarry is the solution? — but the Oil can’t solely rely on the power play to dig out of this hole.
7. In a league muddled with mediocrity, the Colorado Avalanche are an undisputed wagon, head and shoulders above the pack.
Yes, the Minnesota Wild ended the Avalanche’s 10-game win streak Friday, but Colorado still has points in 15(!) straight.
Nathan MacKinnon and the Avs both became the first to reach 40 points, and the team is operating with a ridiculous plus-43 goal differential. (The NHL’s next best? Plus-16.) Colorado’s plus-32 goal differential during that 10-game heater was the best since the Capitals went plus-41 in 1983-84 — when goalies weren’t allowed to drop to their knees.
Until Friday, the Avs had scored 14 goals in a row, the most in franchise history since the Nordiques ripped 16 straight in October 1983.
With one lonely regulation loss through 24 games, the only question now is: Can Colorado win the Presidents’ Trophy — and a potential four rounds of home-ice advantage — wire to wire?
8. Signing autographs for kids is one thing.
Getting pestered in public by adults who are trying to make money off a star’s signature is an entirely different thing.
The only thing ickier than the video of Connor Bedard getting nagged into a go-away scribble by an autograph seeker is the fact that someone anonymously tried painting Bedard as the bad guy here.
9. The thing about William Nylander (15) swiping Mats Sundin’s franchise record (14) for career overtime goals is that we’re not comparing apples to apples.
Sundin’s OT goals were scored in the era of five-on-five and four-on-four OT, while Nylander has only known three-on-three.
And so begins Nylander and Matthews’ assault on Sundin’s franchise marks.
“He could’ve also scored today,” Nylander said after breaking the three-way tie for OT goals with Sundin and Matthews (also 14). “If I didn’t shoot that, maybe I would’ve slid it over to him, and he would have the record.”
“I mean, we just want to win games. And whoever gets it at the end of their career, good for them.”
Matthews (410) should pass Sundin’s all-time Leafs goals record (420) this season.
Matthews (742) moved to fifth in all-time points Friday; Sundin’s mark (987) will eventually be threatened there, too.
Matthews already owns the even-strength goals mark (303) and needs just 20 more on the power-play to pass Sundin (124) in that category.
10. Tidy bit of business in Montreal, locking up Mike Matheson through age 36 at $6 million per season.
A top four of Matheson, Noah Dobson, Kaiden Guhle, and Lane Hutson for just $29.9 million will look fantastic against whatever the cap soars to by 2029-30.
11. Noticed a player sitting down at his stall after a morning skate, grab a pair of scissors and proceed to snip his laces off along both rows of eyelets.
Why waste time untying when you can just grab a fresh set of laces from the team stash?
“Do you always just cut them off?” I asked.
“Yep. It’s a good league.”
