Berube Needs to Break Up the Tavares-Nylander-Cowan Line
The Toronto Maple Leafs are in a weird spot right now. One of their lines — the John Tavares, William Nylander, and Easton Cowan trio — is actually playing really well. They’re winning shifts, creating chances, and looking dangerous. But here’s the catch: if the rest of the team keeps playing the way they did against Anaheim, the Maple Leafs will certainly slide out of the bottom five of the standings.
And that’s a problem.
Can the Maple Leafs get into the bottom five of the NHL teams?
Because if Toronto drops too low in the standings, they will regain control of their own first-round draft pick. Remember, they traded that pick to the Boston Bruins last season, but they kept protection on it if they bottomed out. If they finish in the bottom five, they get to keep the pick. If they “too well” and finish out of the bottom five, Boston gets it.
So right now, the Maple Leafs are stuck in this strange situation where one line is winning too much while the rest of the team is dragging them down. It creates this awkward middle-ground where they’re good enough not to totally tank, but not good enough to climb the standings either.
It’s hard to say what Craig Berube is thinking right now, however…
Craig Berube has to be looking at that Tavares-Nylander-Cowan line and thinking. As much as you hate to mess with chemistry that’s finally working, if he knew he would remain, you wonder if he would focus on the bigger picture. Sometimes you have to break things up to fix the bigger picture. If that line keeps carrying the load, Toronto might win just enough games to finish 20th or 22nd. Right in that dangerous no-man’s-land where they lose the draft pick without improving the team.
Berube was brought in to change the culture and build a harder, more consistent team. It hasn’t happened. Keeping the same lines together when the results are this uneven probably isn’t the answer. He might need to spread the talent around, give other guys more ice time, and stop relying so heavily on three players to do all the heavy lifting.
What an ironic pickle for the Maple Leafs to be in right now.
In the end, the Maple Leafs will probably do what teams always do—stick with what works and trust the results to sort themselves out. Still, the fact that this is even a conversation tells you everything about where Toronto is right now. When a line gets too hot for your own good, you’re not just managing a roster anymore—you’re managing the consequences of winning.