Craig Berube on the message to William Nylander after three games without a goal: “Are you a playmaker now, or are you going to shoot?”
Craig Berube, Toronto Maple Leafs head coach
Ahead of Friday’s game against the Hurricanes, head coach Craig Berube discussed Auston Matthews’ surgery, the message to William Nylander after a few games without a point, and the challenge against Carolina.
William Nylander hasn’t been at his top level lately. What are you hoping to see from him tonight, and what is your sense of his game lately?
Berube: I spoke to him today. “I don’t know if you are a playmaker now, or are you going to shoot?” He needs to shoot the puck, and he understands that. That is on the power play, too. He understood, and he agreed. Be more direct and shoot the puck. He scores goals. We need him to shoot the puck.
What is your sense of how Matthew Knies has navigated the injury he’s playing through?
Berube: Well, he is fine. He came off that Olympic break, and I haven’t heard one thing. He’s healthy.
Do you have anything to add to the news about Auston Matthews’ surgery?
Berube: It was successful. I was texting with him about it last night. He was back at the hotel, doing well. It was successful, and he feels good.
Matthews will be back in Toronto in the days ahead. What will it mean to the group to have him around?
Berube: It will be big. He is the captain of our team. It will be good to have him back around us. We’ll see how much he is with us and what is going on with his rehab, but definitely getting him back here and around the team will be big.
How do you feel as a coach, knowing Matthews has to go through what’s ahead of him now?
Berube: It’s obviously something new for him. But he will have a good approach. He is a hard worker. He will do what he has to do to get it 100% healthy and ready to go again. He is not afraid to do what is needed and do the work that he has to put in.
It is one of those things in your career. It is unfortunate he has to go through it, but he is not the first one.
What do you want to see from your group in this game against the Hurricanes?
Berube: You’ll need to be a competitive and hard-working team tonight. That is what the team we’re playing is based on: hard work and compete. They’ve been doing it for a number of years now and are very good at it.
First and foremost, we’ll need to be highly competitive out there. We’ll need to understand that there are not always plays you can make. There is a lot of pressure coming from them. Playing a simple game will be important tonight.
What is the challenge when facing a defenseman of Jaccob Slavin’s calibre?
Berube: He is an elite shutdown guy and an elite defenseman defensively. He eats up a lot of time and space out there. He has a great stick. He’s big and can skate. He is not easy to get around. He kills a lot of plays. He is one of the top defensemen in the league, in my opinion, when it comes to defending.
