Quick Shifts: Biggest reason these Maple Leafs will be different

A quick mix of the things we gleaned from the week of hockey, serious and less so, and rolling four lines deep. I also left money on the table for my teammates.

1. The opening of Toronto Maple Leafs training camp was the day the music died.

One could spot a couple PTOs and a PP, a 2C and an F3.

But no DJ.

Under the former coaching regime, the Maple Leafs’ bag skates and line rushes were usually set to music, with a staffer designated to cue up some vintage 50 Cent to help keep pulses pounding and tempos high in the practice facility.

Under Craig Berube, however, the only “music” is that of pucks off glass, shrill neck whistles and bodies slamming into boards.

The new bench boss in town is direct and no frills, and he’s demanding his charges play that way.

How would you rate the toughness of Berube’s first day of camp, Ryan Reaves?

“Today was in my top two — and it probably wasn’t two,” said Reaves, who is entering Season 15 of his career. “It was a good day, though. It sends a message to the team right away of what our identity is going to be, and I think guys enjoyed that battle.”

To be fair, Sheldon Keefe’s camps were no picnic. Conditioning was typically pushed on Day One with excessive skating.

What looks, feels, and sounds different in the frequency and intensity of small-area battle drills right off the hop.

“In the corners, 1-on-1s, 2-on-2s, but still full-ice drills. The first day of leaning on guys is always hard, but when you throw it into a full practice like that, it’s tough,” Reaves explains. 

“I love being in the corners and grinding. I think it’s going to drag some of those skill guys into that kind of game. Maybe get them a little uncomfortable right away.”

Observing the first couple days of on-ice action in Leafland — crowded on the ice with three full practice groups and off the ice with a heavy management, coaching and media presence — more than one onlooker whispered, “Someone is gonna get hurt before the season starts.”

Indeed, fourth-line tryout Steven Lorentz was out with an upper-body ailment before the first preseason game, and veteran Kyle Clifford limped off the sheet early on Day 2.

Clifford chucked big sophomore Matthew Knies to the ice in one aggressive Day 1 battle, and Day 2 saw Simon Benoit and Max Domi get into a wrestling match they later laughed off. (“Just showing him my new dad strength,” chuckled Benoit.)

“He’s setting the tone right there from Day 1,” said PTO Max Pacioretty winger. “This is a team that wants to come out of the gates and show they have a whole new compete level.”

Berube has made his message clear and simple and early: Skate north. Finish your checks. Compete. No shifts off.

“I’m not here to take the sticks out of these guys hands,” Berube qualifies, “but there’s gotta be an identity in how we want to play.

“It’s just learning that you are going to be uncomfortable a lot of times in games. You have to work and compete under those circumstances.”

Time will tell if the Leafs are any better under Berube — his predecessor’s three straight 100-point campaigns set a solid bar — but there is no question the coach is demanding they play different.

And that, to many fans, sounds like music to the ears.

2. Sidney Crosby is truly one of one.

The gold standard.

No one would have blinked if he had signed for, say, $10.87 million, but once again he took one for the team. Sure, a long career and a healthy supplement of endorsement dollars have ensured the Penguins star financial security.

But it takes rare character for one of the 10 best hockey players in the world to see his salary ranked 40th in the NHL, shrug, and say, “Nah, I don’t need a raise. I’m good.”

Crosby’s agent, Pat Brisson, discussed the negotiations in a good interview this week with The Fan Pregame‘s Ailish Forfar and Justin Cuthbert. Brisson revealed that, yes, Crosby had opportunities to change sweaters. And, of course, he could have squeezed more money from Pittsburgh.

“Winning is the most important thing to me,” the kid born on 8-7-87 said. A common refrain, but one seldom backed up by actions at the negotiating table. “I think I’m more focused on that than the number.

“That’s my approach, and that’s how I’ve always kinda seen it.”

Beautiful.

Here’s the rub, though. 

Crosby’s selflessness has given Kyle Dubas’s front office the gift of flexibility, budget for a useful player.

The pressure is wholly on the GM to snuff Crosby’s playoff drought at two seasons and give his captain a chance to play meaningful hockey at age 37.

We don’t like the age of the core — or seeing Erik Karlsson already injured at camp — but the Metropolitan isn’t loaded with world-beaters.

There’s a path, and Crosby is leading the way.

“The look in his eyes is winning,” Brisson said. “And winning at all costs.”

Literally.

3. From one Brisson client to another: Nick Robertson, a Crosby superfan.

“Nick wants to establish himself as a true NHL player,” Brisson said. “He’s only 23 years old, and it feels like he’s been in the league for seven or eight years.”

Sure does. That’s because Robertson scored his first NHL goal way back in the 2020 playoff bubble, had his entry-level contract slide twice, battled through numerous injuries, and has been the subject of more articles and sports-radio debates than arguably any other Leaf to have never made the team out of camp.

Swallowing his pride and eating his trade request, Robertson signed a cheap, one-year deal in Toronto that will take him to arbitration rights next summer.

“I’m not going to deep dive into that,” the winger says. “I signed in Toronto. I’m happy to be in Toronto. Being back here a week ago, it’s good to see everyone. I’m happy to be back.”

Now armed with waiver eligibility, Robertson will be happier if he can stick with his current linemates, John Tavares and Bobby McMann, and hang on to a scoring role in the Leafs’ top nine.

“I guess that’s up to Craig to answer,” Robertson said. “For me, I know I got to come in and work hard and build on last year.”

Over a stalemate summer, Berube contracted Robertson, who was practising in Michigan with big brother Jason and other NHLers.

“I didn’t focus on the contract stuff,” Berube said. “It has nothing to do with me. I just said, ‘I’d love you to come to camp. I hope you’re here. With your ability, speed, and youth, it would be a good addition to our team.’ As he was last year. I don’t get too in-depth with the other stuff about negotiations. It is not for me.”

Robertson is a natural left winger, but Berube has him patrolling the right side. That’ll be trickier on breakouts, and Robertson — the shortest Leaf at camp — has had issues with D-zone wall play. But the off-wing opens more shooting angles for his deadly blade in the O-zone. 

“Coming into the zone, I like it (with) getting out for a one-timer,” Robertson says. “I like that puck on that side. As this camp goes on, you get more familiar with it and get back to being comfortable. I look forward to that.” 

Much like fellow fringe winger Max Pacioretty, Robertson is encouraged by an off-season focused on training, not rehab.

“It was the best summer of my career. I’m not coming off an injury, thankfully, and my conditioning feels good. My body feels good,” says the upbeat Robertson, who cleared his mind in Aruba.

“First healthy summer where I could actually go somewhere and enjoy it. I could actually go on a vacation and not worry about rehabbing.”

A huge season incoming that should determine Robertson’s future both as a Leaf and as a middle-six weapon in the NHL.

Assured Brisson: “It’s his time now.”

4. Trainer-to-the-stars Gary Roberts made a summer appearance on the Spittin’ Chiclets podcast and was asked about the work ethic of super campers like Connor McDavid.

Roberts sang McDavid’s praises, of course, but he made a point of mentioning how seriously the Tanev brothers take their off-season training too.

Makes sense with Chris Tanev joining the Leafs that the top-pair defenceman would pick Roberts’ brain about life in the mecca.

“He had nothing but good things to say,” Tanev said. “He’s extremely proud to be a Leaf, and obviously the teams he was on were quite successful. I mean, they didn’t end up winning (the Stanley Cup) but they had some good runs and good playoff series.”

Roberts, a North York native, suited up for the Leafs from 2000 to 2004, a run that featured 50 playoff dates and a trip to the ’02 Eastern Conference final. 

Roberts’ advice to Tanev?

“Just be yourself and be good to the fans and enjoy yourself,” Tanev said. “I mean, you’re definitely in the spotlight more than maybe what you would be in Dallas or Calgary. I mean, Vancouver’s a pretty big hockey market, so I’m sort of used to the Canadian market.

“He said the best times of his career were playing in Toronto.”

NHL Pre-Season on Sportsnet

The Toronto Maple Leafs and Ottawa Senators open the pre-season with a matchup on Sunday at Scotiabank Arena. Catch the game starting at 7 p.m. ET / 4 p.m. PT on Sportsnet and Sportsnet+.

Full NHL pre-season schedule

5. Quote of the Week.

“No d—heads.” — New Jersey Devils GM Tom Fitzgerald, on his approach to recruiting new players via trade or free agency

(Yep, it’s already a T-shirt.)

6. With only the Sabres (13 seasons) owning a longer post-season drought than the Red Wings (eight), the growing discontent with Detroit’s rebuild under icon Steve Yzerman comes honestly.

No playoff games for you, spectacular Little Caesars Arena. 

But Stevie Y earned an emphatic boardroom W this week, locking up star forward Lucas Raymond (eight years times $8.075 million) and stud defenceman Moritz Seider (seven years times $8.55 million) for the prime of their careers.

Yzerman, remember, came from Tampa Bay, and his Lightning crafted a hard internal cap that would yield deep rosters and, soon after he moved on, championships. Now he’s doing the same thing in Michigan. 

Yzerman drew a hard line. No player was to rake a higher AAV than captain Dylan Larkin ($8.7 million). That meant not giving Seider an eighth season of term, but it keeps the team’s pay scale in place and sets the tone for the next negotiation.

Seider, in particular, is a steal. 

A big, edgy righty with offensive flair and an ironman streak that traces back to his NHL debut and Calder Trophy campaign?

With the cap on the rise, Seider is going to be one of the sport’s greatest bargains before too long. I seem to remember another German RFA turning into a steal of a deal, too…

7. Finishing 2023-24 with 11 goals in 23 games for the Columbus Blue Jackets, 26-year-old free agent Alex Nylander had multiple NHL offers on the table.

But he brushed those to the floor and accepted a minor-league contract with the Toronto Marlies instead. 

Why? Because he wants to play alongside his big brother, best friend, and now roommate William.

“Hopefully that works out the way we want it,” says William, who was part of the deliberations before Alex decided to take a harder road in effort to join a better team.

Alex, a top-10 pick in 2016, is now on his fifth franchise. And he must outplay a handful of wingers to upgrade his AHL deal into an NHL one. 

“It was best to go here. They really care about the development of players and can make me better,” Alex says. “My brother was a big influence, and my dad (former NHLer Michael Nylander) and my agent were talking a lot throughout the summer. We thought this was the best option in my career.”

Alex says he couldn’t be happier living with William and carpooling to practice.

“It was a dream since we were younger to both just be in the NHL,” Alex says. 

“Now that we have a chance to play on the same team together, it’s huge. It’s a dream come true if that happens.”

8. Good video (and good timing) by the NHL to release this straightforward video refresher on the new rule tweaks that will be implemented for 2024-25.

Nothing too dramatic is getting altered, but confusion will arise. Worth a watch:

9. Asked Auston Matthews which teammates have caught his eye at training camp.

He singled out undrafted 26-year-old Marshall Rifai, the late-blooming defenceman who got called up for two NHL games last season, and power forward Bobby McMann, hot off a breakout year and starting his first one-way contract.

“A couple key guys for our team this year to help us take steps,” Matthews says.

10. The Blue Jackets have the lowest total cap hit in the NHL ($63.2 million) and it’s not particularly close.

How new GM Don Waddell wields his $24.8 million in available space will be fascinating. 

Does he try to trade for an impact forward? Pounce the waiver wire like crazy when spendy teams get forced into cap compliance in a couple weeks? 

Does he weaponize that budget by taking on a problem contract and further stocking the Jackets’ pool of picks and prospects? Or by acting as a third-party broker, eating money in deadline deals?

Waddell has options. He should make news this season.

11. Pouring one out for the chronically injured T.J. Oshie, a favourite for his style of play and his personality.

“Probably one of the best guys I have in the locker room, on the ice and off the ice,” Alex Ovechkin told reporters.

With Oshie (back) joining Nicklas Backstrom (hip) on indefinite LTIR, Washington will dress just three players who were on their 2018 Cup-winning roster: Ovechkin, Tom Wilson and John Carlson.

Slowly, painfully, a new era is taking hold in D.C. 

Curious to see who steps up to shine in for the Caps. No more excuses, Pierre-Luc Dubois.

12. Love it, hate it.

The NHL’s Global Series is a wonderful initiative. Seeing firsthand last November in Stockholm how the league can take over buzz in a foreign city and bring the action to fans who may never cross the ocean is incredible.

What feels weird and inconvenient, though, is the 2024-25 season kicking off at 1 p.m. ET on Oct. 4 and 10 a.m. ET on Oct. 5 with a Devils-Sabres back-to-back at Prague’s O2 Arena, then waiting three days for a game in North America. (Anyone else’s fantasy draft thrown by this?)

The NFL’s opening night is an event, a celebration. Everyone knows when it’s happening.

There is a missed opportunity here to start with a prime-time bang.

The NHL was on to something last October when it scheduled all 32 teams to play on the same day. Now, that would be an opening night. Or an Oilers-Panthers rematch. Or all six original teams in action. Or the top two squads in each division facing off. Something.

Start with a bang.

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