Fixing Leafs' power outage, Dennis Hildeby down, Matthew Knies out: Mirtle's observations

Have to admit, I was a bit surprised when Craig Berube went to bat for his power play after an innocuous question last week after practice.

A practice that was heavily focused on fixing ...

the power play.

The power play has been 23 percent over the last 10 games, which is pretty good, Berube said .

Could it be better? Yeah.

For me, its the time of game.

When you (miss) a power play, you just kill your momentum.

Thats what stands out.

Advertisement Technically, the Toronto Maple Leafs coach was right: There was a 10-game stretch there when they had converted on 23 percent of their power plays.

At that moment, in that time frame, that gave them the 12th-best man advantage in the league.

Woohoo! Now, the coach is frustrated with his power play.

In Wednesdays 5-1 loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets , Berube even went to the extreme (?) of using his second unit almost exactly as much as the first for one of the only times this season.

Fraser Minten and Nick Robertson played 2:50 up a man against Columbus; William Nylander and Mitch Marner had only 18 seconds more.

Nobody converted, on either PP1 or PP2, but at least the staff took a run at something different.

(The second unit was, predictably, not good, so well see whether that methodology sticks.) Through 49 games, the Leafs power play has been wholly mediocre, with a 21.7 percent rate that ranks almost exactly league average.

Heres what that looks like, on a goals-per-minute rate, throughout the season so far.

(James Mirtle / The Athletic ) Other than one 10-game stretch early on, in other words, its been incredibly meh.

And thats with the most frequently used top unit earning more than $50 million this season.

Average just isnt enough for this group, not when the power play has now stunk for nearly 70 games.

Going back to the last couple of months of last season, and including the playoffs, the Leafs have been at roughly 18 percent, good for bottom five in the league.

The man advantage has cost them dearly in the playoffs year after year, with an awful 15 percent conversion rate over the last five postseasons, ranking them fifth last among 27 teams that have qualified.

Fixing this issue was one of the top priorities for Berube coming in, and its a bit alarming that nearly 50 games into the campaign they still appear to be scrambling with it.

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Louis Blues had the leagues 29th-ranked power play over Berubes last 110 games there, including converting at only 8 percent last season when he was let go in December, so hes not a stranger to these issues.

I surveyed a few coaches from outside the organization about how to fix PP1, and the answers were mostly similar.

Having boy hulk Matthew Knies at the net front, to retrieve pucks and be a pain for the defence, is one positive step thats been working.

But one issue still hurting them is that statistically, their power-play breakouts are bottom 10 in the league, which means theyre scrambling just to get into the zone, let alone set up and execute.

Thats been partly on Morgan Rielly , who has struggled in general this season, and its one reason the five-forward look has been a better option.

Berubes approach of going simpler and heavier also seems to make sense, as trying to finesse the puck into the net just isnt working the way it did in previous seasons.

And having some accountability, where theres a threat of PP2 getting more time, makes sense, too.

The scary thing, however, is Berube has been preaching a similar message since the very start of the season.

Not direct enough.

A little outside for me, you know? Berube said after the power play faltered in a Game 1 loss.

We didnt look to attack right away, get shots and get pucks to the net to look for some rebounds.

We were just moving it around on the outside too much.

I dont want to call it too cute, but we have to be more direct.

Now that Auston Matthews is looking healthy (and deadly) at even strength, the power play has risen to one of my top concerns with the Leafs right now.

Perhaps the very top.

They have to get this figured out over the next 30 games, as weve seen this movie before when it matters most.

2.

Go easy on Dennis Hildeby I realize hes a 23-year-old professional athlete, but Dennis Hildeby doesnt deserve the bulk of the arrows hes getting after this loss.

He didnt get any run support, and he was facing one of the highest-scoring teams in the league.

Thats not a winning recipe.

But its become pretty clear, too, that the massive Swede isnt ready for prime time yet.

His save percentage is down to .878, bottom 10 among goalies with at least five starts, and his confidence is not there at this level.

Advertisement He was drafted as a project, at almost 21 years old, and his development curve is going to have to be measured in years here.

At this point, hes no more than a No.

4 who can give you a handful of games a season in the NHL , and hes already exceeded that this year.

With Anthony Stolarz almost surely out until after the 4 Nations tournament, the Leafs are going to have to go to a backup for at least another two games here over the next few weeks.

Though Matt Murray hasnt lit the world on fire in the time hes spent with the Leafs, hes been outstanding in the AHL and might be shaking off some rust after missing a full season due to hip surgery.

Hes probably the better option right now.

3.

A not very Knies development The worst part about this game wasnt the lack of scoring or the goaltending, though.

It was Matthew Knies taking an awkward hit from fellow big man Kirill Marchenko and having to leave the game.

Knies had been playing some of the best hockey of his young career so far in 2025.

Entering the Columbus game, he had seven goals and 12 points in his last nine games while logging more than 19 minutes a game.

He also was part of a first line that had had some dominant showings against good teams, including wins over fellow Eastern Conference contenders the New Jersey Devils and the Tampa Bay Lightning .

If he misses any time, its going to hurt, especially given the Leafs are already missing John Tavares , Max Pacioretty (who went on injured reserve Wednesday) and Connor Dewar .

Weve seen what this iteration of the Leafs looks like when theyre down four or five forwards, and its not pretty.

Theyre going to need some different players to step up here or things could get tough given theyre about to face some difficult opponents.

4.

Some interesting deployments One thing that caught my eye after the Blue Jackets game was how Berube was using his bench.

Oliver Ekman-Larsson led the team with 23:19, and he had an OK night as he bounced around to some different pairings but largely benefited from the new-look top duo with Chris Tanev .

Nylander, meanwhile, received a season-high 23 minutes, tops among forwards, as he picked up some of Knies minutes and was leaned on with Toronto chasing the game most of the night.

Advertisement The 19:35 Bobby McMann played was the second-highest mark of his career, a sign of whats to come if Knies misses much time.

And Nick Robertson played more than 15 minutes for just the third time all season.

5.

Lineup options for Saturday Assuming they dont get anyone back, it might be worth thinking outside the box a little bit when it comes to the lineup in the Leafs next game at the Ottawa Senators on Saturday.

I would try something like this if only to attempt to get some of their struggling players going: Max Domi Matthews Marner McMann Pontus Holmberg Nylander Jacob Quillan David Kampf Steven Lorentz Robertson Minten Ryan Reaves Its getting a wee bit thin, theres no doubt.

Quillan is an interesting prospect, given he put up 46 points in the NCAA last year (second in the conference) and has a reputation as a strong defensive player.

So why not try him in a two-way role, rather than giving him five minutes alongside Reaves on the fourth line? The Leafs might also make an emergency recall here, with Alex Steeves a likely candidate given he sits seventh in AHL scoring.

(Top photo of Auston Matthews: Nick Turchiaro / Imagn Images).

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