Why Maple Leafs’ Craig Berube is making a lineup change

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Maple Leafs coach Craig Berube will make one change to his lineup Saturday night in Montreal.

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Berube will dress forward Sammy Blais in place of Jacob Quillan against the Canadiens at the Bell Centre.

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Bérubé's argument is simple.

“Physicality,” Berube told reporters in Montreal as the Leafs had an extra morning skate. “It's going to be a tough game. It's going to be a physical game to a certain extent. I just think he can come in here and disrupt them a little bit with his physicality. And he's really good with the puck.”

Berube may be up to something. The game will be Blais' eighth in Toronto, who was waived by the Canadiens on Oct. 6 and has been training enthusiastically.

In seven games, Blais has recorded 27 hits, eighth-most on the Leafs. He also has one goal and two assists.

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The 29-year-old native of Montmagny, Quebec, will drink some juice Saturday night, telling reporters he will have 10 to 15 family members and friends in the stands.

Additionally, Blais wants to tie it to the Canadiens after they released him from his contract in October.

“I'm really motivated,” Blais said. “Of course I’ll have a little more on my shoulder tonight.”

Neither the Leafs nor the Canadiens played great hockey in November. The Leafs have taken three of their four points in their last two games, chipping away at a 1-4-2 record in their last seven games. However, the Leafs still have a ways to go before they can be considered well on their way to respectability.

With 21 points, the Leafs entered Saturday's National Hockey League games in second-to-last place in the Eastern Conference, one point ahead of the usually terrible Buffalo Sabres.

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Canadiens stumble

The Canadiens, meanwhile, are 1-4-3 in their last eight games. They lost 8-4 at home to Washington on Thursday and missed the playoffs.

If you're a glass-half-full type, you'll notice that Toronto is just three points away from a playoff spot. This shouldn't be something to brag about for a team that had much higher expectations when the 2025-26 season began.

Berube has seen growth in important areas over his last two games, with an overtime win over St. Louis on Tuesday and then an overtime loss to Columbus on Thursday.

“We defend as a five-man unit a lot better than we used to,” Berube said. “We have numbers around the puck and we clear pucks easier, we’re not spread out, we’re connected in zones.

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“In the neutral zone, we did a pretty good job of defending. Offensively, I thought we did a good job of creating chances.”

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Joseph Wall plans to make his fourth straight start as Anthony Stolarz continues to recover from an upper-body injury.

A heavy workload likely contributed to Stolarz's struggles before he was injured Nov. 11 during a game in Boston against the Bruins.

Why the concern that the workload is approaching onerous levels for Wall?

“We're not there yet,” Berube said. “That's definitely on my mind. After tonight, we'll have a little break until Columbus (to continue on Wednesday), so that's good.”

“We definitely have to manage his workload. That's a big part of it in practice. We talked about it last year with Joe in practice. Just do your thing and then ease up on the workload a little bit. He can go overboard in practice. He's a hard-working guy and he likes to compete.”

wounded leaves Auston Matthews and Matthew Nice skated Saturday morning in Montreal while recovering from lower-body injuries.

The Leafs will return home for a couple of practices before heading back Tuesday afternoon to begin a five-game road trip with stops in Columbus, Washington, Pittsburgh, Florida and Carolina.

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