As the Toronto Maple Leafs deal with some serious injuries to key players, they may be forced to implement a pretty interesting strategy.
You have to stop and think about how tough things must be if you’re Craig Berube right now. You’ve got a team who is good enough to make a deep playoff run but has historically failed, dealing with a goaltender situation that may end up deciding your playoff fate; oh and your best defenseman is injured right now.
So as unenvious as his job may be, there’s a reason he’s the head coach. Faced with the ability to adapt to whatever is thrown at his way, Berube may end up being shorthanded on the back end against Montreal on Saturday with these injuries.
Toronto Adding Forward Depth To Their Defense? Not As Strange As You Think
Or perhaps he’ll pull an old trick out of Toronto’s playbook.
Back in the 2022 preseason, the Maple Leafs; helmed by Sheldon Keefe at the time, decided to try and put Mitch Marner and Calle Jarnkrok on defense as a way to not only spice up the early season activities, but see if they can handle the pressure if thrust into an emergency scenario.
So why not let Craig Berube do the same thing?
Toronto could feasibly double up on their third and fourth line with Scott Laughton pulling double duty, and may be better served to put someone like a Steven Lorentz or Pontus Holmberg at the back end.
While it’s going to look weird and wonky, desperate times call for desperate measures. The Maple Leafs also had some defensive work earlier on this season with Ryan Reaves and while he won’t be called up as a defender, it shows that Craig Berube isn’t afraid of trying the four forward/one defender style of lineup.
Holmberg is probably the best choice given his solid possession numbers and Berube’s reliance on him in high pressure situations, not afraid to put him out on the PK or in close games at 5v5; plus his knack for drawing penalties could pay off huge with some ultra-aggressive opponents.
If Toronto does end up working four forwards into their lineup, it won’t necessarily fix all their problems and is easily more of a band-aid on a gunshot wound (especially if McCabe can’t get healthy quick).
But when they’re as down and out as they currently are; anything to stop the bleeding is better than nothing.