Craig Berube on keeping Easton Cowan on the bench for most of the third period vs. NYR: “He pushed a little bit too much… He knows; he is a smart kid who understands”

Craig Berube, Toronto Maple Leafs head coach

After Friday’s practice, Craig Berube discussed the teaching moments for Easton Cowan in his last game, load managing Auston Matthews, Anthony Stolarz’s big performance against the Rangers, and more.

Practice Lines – October 17

Leafs lines at practice

Knies – Jarnkrok* – Cowan
Maccelli – Tavares – Nylander
Robertson – Domi – McMann
Lorentz – Roy – Joshua
Blais

Rielly – Carlo
McCabe – Tanev
Benoit – Ekman-Larsson
Myers

Stolarz
Primeau

*Matthews absent (rest)

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— Mark Masters (@markhmasters) October 17, 2025

With a young player like Easton Cowan, how important is it to let him learn on the job?

Berube: You have to have patience. Again, it is about managing him, what is going on in the game, and what I see from him. We’re working with him the next day on things he can improve on. That is the coaching staff’s job.

He understands it, too. He is a smart guy. He knows what he can do better, and he knows what he’s done well. Again, there will be a lot of in-game management. We’ll go from there.

What do you want Cowan to take away from the game against the Rangers? He said he felt it got away from him in the third.

Berube: Simplify. When you are up 1-0 in a game, it’s about understanding that you have to be more patient and take what is given to you in a game like that. We don’t want to give any freebies up. You don’t want to make a bad puck play, especially in the neutral zone or out of your own zone. It is about doing the simple things a lot of the time and being patient. An opportunity might pop up 10 or 12 minutes into a period, right?

He pushed in the third period a little bit too much and tried some things. He knows. I talked to him today. He’ll see it on video, too. He is a smart kid who understands.

It was a rest day for Auston Matthews today. How does that come together? Is it the medical staff? Is it him approaching you?

Berube: It is just maintenance and managing him. He’s played a lot of minutes and a lot of games here. That’s all it is.

Do you anticipate doing that more with Matthews and some of the other players, given it is an Olympic year with a condensed schedule?

Berube: Well, it is going to get to that point. It is our job to manage everybody, with players coming in and out, and try to use everybody. At the same time, when guys have played big minutes, I think you have to be careful.

What have you seen from Matthews this season? Does he look back to his old self?

Berube: A lot of what we saw last year. I think he has been pretty solid. Again, we are going to look at the goal scoring, but I look at the whole game. He is scoring. He is healthy and feels good. He has been a good player in all aspects of the game for me.

Do you feel like Matthews’ line is trending up?

Berube: It is. They were going good, and in the last game, they probably didn’t create enough or do enough things, but not every game is going to be perfect. There will be games where things don’t get exactly the way you want, but I have liked the line. I have.

What is unique about the way William Nylander can read the ice?

Berube: Well, he has vision and knows where people are. His hockey IQ is very good. He is a veteran guy who has been around a long time and understands the game. He has played with that centerman a lot, too, so he knows exactly where JT is. He has chemistry with JT.

That line is still forming some chemistry. They’ve done some good things. I do believe they can be better than they are.

Do you like the fact that you can approach Nylander and be clear and up front with him about what you need from him, knowing he’ll take it to heart?

Berube: It is important. It is just constructive criticism. It is nothing more than that. If you want to be a good player in this league or any kind of athlete, you have to be able to handle constructive criticism, learn from it, and take it forward to get better. That is the bottom line.

What did you like about Anthony Stolarz’s game on Thursday? He appears to be locked in right now.

Berube: Yeah, he is locked in. For me, he is moving extremely well in the net. We gave up some odd-man rushes where he had to go laterally pretty good. He is reading it well and getting over.

He feels good about his game. In tight, there was a lot of traffic. New York did a good job of shooting pucks from the top with people around the net. He was really solid in that area, finding pucks, being big in the net, and taking the lower half of the net away. He did a good job.

How do you manage Stolarz’s workload with the busy schedule this season? Do you have conversations with him, conversations with Curtis Sanford, or all the above?

Berube: All of it. The goalie coach probably has the best insight on that. He is constantly talking with his goalies and feeling out where they’re at with their energy levels. That is a big part of it. It is all communication between the three of us.

Do you envision reinserting Steven Lorentz into the lineup?

Berube: Yeah, there is a good chance we’ll get him back in.

In the Blue Jays game on Thursday, Max Scherzer told John Schneider he wasn’t coming out of the game. As a coach, have you experienced a similar moment with a player?

Berube: Yeah. There is a guy who has been around a long time. He is a gamer all day long. He wants the ball. He wants to get the job done. It’s great. I love seeing that stuff.