"I think we're obviously excited about the record of the team," Dubas said Monday. "A lot of the credit has to go to the coaching staff and the players for the way that they were able to navigate that stretch without Auston, without William, and continue to stay focused and get better and better. And I think that leads to some excitement for the remainder of the year. So, I'm happy with where we're at, I still think we have a long way to go, and that's what we work towards every day."
Dubas was asked about Toronto's perceived lack of a big-bodied player who doesn't mind dropping his gloves and fighting. And although Dubas understood where the line of questioning was originating, he disagrees strongly with the notion that acquiring such a player would somehow push Toronto into the next echelon of competitive NHL squads.
"For whatever reason, that takes on a life of its own, the whole toughness question," Dubas said. "I understand it's at every level - whether it's been (in his previous GM jobs with the Ontario League's Sault Ste. Marie (Greyhounds), or the (AHL's Toronto) Marlies - it's been the same question, and I just - I don't buy it myself. I know there are a lot of pundits that say you have to have it, but I look at the teams that've had success, and I don't think bringing in one big person is going to change our culture…we want to have skill, we want to be fast, and we want to be competitive."
The Leafs also want to have top-tier special teams, something that's been lacking in recent games as the power play has struggled and the penalty kill allowed a couple of goals against Florida in their most recent contest. That said, both players and coaches noted the general improvement and heightened competition across the league when it comes to special teams. And, rather than try to reinvent the wheel on the power play, Toronto's players believe they need to simply stick with the blueprint that has had success for them earlier in the season.
"I don't think you have to change too much," blueliner Morgan Rielly said. "We've been getting chances, (and) we've talked about (changing things) a few times now over the past couple days…and I think the general feeling is that we stick with what we've been doing, and it's just a matter of time that we bear down and continue to work hard, and the puck is going to go in eventually."
Leafs head coach Mike Babcock added that, when it comes to his team's struggles on the man advantage, the answer lies within Toronto's dressing room, and has nothing to do with the opponent they happen to face on any given night.
"If you want to look at what's going on with our power play, you don't have to look any further than us," Babcock said. "This is about us, not about the other team."
