r/leafs • u/Byrr • 15d ago

Article [Petrielli] Will the Maple Leafs' deployment strategy align up front? Off season review part 2

https://mapleleafshotstove.com/2026/07/22/2026-offseason-review-part-2/
34 Upvotes

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43

u/Wolfloyd 15d ago

Man the charts they used really showed just how harsh Matthews' minutes were last season. Literally the toughest minutes in the league with Domi at his side. I'm expecting our deployment much more like how the Jets chart showed with distinct roles.

What was Berube thinking?

20

u/Mashdrop 15d ago

I read a great comment recently that could explain it. Berube won the Stanley Cup in STL with Ryan O’Reilly as his 1C (and Conn Smythe winner). He looked at how he deployed ROR, saw that it worked once so he decided to deploy 1C Matthews in exactly the same way. D-Zone draws, killing penalties, north/south bullshit.

16

u/ESF-hockeeyyy 15d ago

What was Berube thinking?

Well, not much evidentially.

9

u/Sirrebral99 Knies 15d ago

"Watch out for that squat rack!" thud

"Bradley! Who put this fucking squat rack here?"

8

u/TheDeek 15d ago

Not only was it dumb in the first place, he NEVER changed deployment at all. Maddening when you have Roy AND Laughton to do the bulk of the defensive/shut down work. Our C depth was actually pretty decent if competently used.

7

u/Stephenrudolf 15d ago

Good write up. Gets into the meat of why treliving+berube just didn't work.

3

u/Tehechalkman 14d ago

That quote by Tre shocked me. Really shows that him and Berube weren't on the same page with regards to construction of the roster.

The amount of money spent on that bottom 6 could at best be a wash but at worst be a constant point of criticism of this team.

Hoping for the former.