Maple Leafs' surprising Power Play changes raise questions among fans

The Toronto Maple Leafs had a bit of an identity crisis at times, and this offseason tried to relieve those woes by introducing a new crop of players like Chris Tanev, Oliver Ekman-Larsson, and Anthony Stolarz as well as a new head coach in Craig Berube, along with his new staff in Marc Savard and Lane Lambert. Berube and Savard have a rich history together, and Savard monitored the powerplay when Berube was in St. Louis. This new influx of mentality and playstyle seemed to excite many fans who wanted a change from the Sheldon Keefe era. But unfortunately, it seems like it's more of the same for now.

The first unit powerplay grouping took shape ahead of their preseason opener on Sunday versus the Ottawa Senators, and it feels a bit like Groundhog Day seeing the lineup Craig Berube has put out.

As you can see, the team decided to stay put when it comes to who they throw out with the man advantage. You have a massively overloaded top line with all the superstars meanwhile the second unit; although talented, isn't the same goal scoring caliber as the first. It was speculated that Toronto would have a different look for the PP including by Jonas Siegel of The Athletic, who thought perhaps Toronto would move the playmaking Ekman-Larsson to the front, or perhaps they could shift Nylander to the 2nd unit and play with a traditional 2 defensemen on the powerplay. There is no doubt that they will absolutely dominate, but does it mean anything at the end of the day?

Toronto finished a respectable 7th in the NHL last season on the powerplay with a 23.95% (rounded to 24%) with the man advantage; this number is only behind the likes of teams like Edmonton, Colorado and Tampa Bay who often put up ridiculous numbers with their powerplay (especially Edmonton, who deploy Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl together). It's no secret the top producers on the powerplay last season were Auston Matthews, William Nylander and John Tavares who scored 18, 11, and 9 goals respectively. Mitch Marner slides behind Tavares with 8 goals but after that...yikes. After Tyler Bertuzzi put in 5 of his own, there are 6 Maple Leafs with one each. Perhaps Toronto is trying to emulate their peers but as much as it looks good in the regular season; the playoffs are a nightmare. In the 2023-2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs, the Maple Leafs were an atrocious 1-21 with the man advantage; a 4.8% goal rate which is beyond laughable. It's absolutely one of the main culprits behind the Boston Bruins defeating the Maple Leafs in seven games and something needs to change.

Whether it's adding OEL to the powerplay (where he has 59 goals and 127 assists for his career) or moving a star down to the second unit and allow someone like Max Domi to slide in and provide some more grit to keep pressure on would pay huge dividends. Toronto clearly has more talent than they know what to do with, and perhaps pulling an Oilers and trying to maximize your talents on the powerplay lead to success for 82 games, but the evidence shows it doesn't work in the playoffs. If no one shows up, how good is it to overload your stars with no results? The reason Toronto got to the second round in 2022-2023 is because they had 8 powerplay goals; they had contributors. When Berube and Savard were in St. Louis, the year they won the Stanley Cup they had a 16.3% PP goal rate, and had 13 goals total, a number that can mean the difference between winning and losing.

It's a bit staggering to see Berube and Savard rehash the same old thing, but perhaps he just wants to gather some of that preseason chemistry and build on some momentum going into the year. Maybe he just wants to make his job a little bit easier and not change much until he has to. I have faith that this group can turn it around in the playoffs, they have the right voice and the right coaches for it, and fans need to try and stay optimistic because things are different this year even if it might not feel like it.

Toronto needs to try something different on their powerplay. Maybe they'll go for broke in their preseason game and try something drastic, or maybe it'll be the same routine for the Maple Leafs as in recent years. One thing is for sure though: If Toronto wants to make a deep playoff run, the stars need to pick up the slack and prove they are worth what the team is paying them for.