TORONTO -- Craig Berube's job as coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs is safe, general manager Brad Treliving said Tuesday.
The comments came one day after assistant coach Marc Savard was fired and with the Maple Leafs sitting last in the Eastern Conference heading into their game against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday afternoon.
"I want to make it clear, I support Craig fully," Treliving said. "One of the narratives coming out was there is a disconnect between the coach and I. There isn't a disconnect. We all have to be better."
The Maple Leafs lost their past three games on a three-game road trip, outscored by a combined 14-4 in losses to the Washington Capitals, Nashville Predators and Dallas Stars. They are 1-4-1 in their past six, the only win coming Dec. 16 against the Chicago Blackhawks when they rallied with three third-period goals, including two in eight seconds in a 3-2 victory.
Will that support for Berube last if the team does not improve in the near future?
"I'm not going to get into hypotheticals of what happens with this," Treliving said. "We've got a good coach. We've got to continue to make our team better. We've got areas that we've got to get better in. It's not lost on us where the team is at. We live it every day. But I think we've got a real good coach. And that's not to say we don't change some things, tweak some things. We've done that over the course of the last couple of weeks. When you get in these situations, to me, you have to band together and you look for collective solutions. And that's what we're trying to do."
Despite being at the bottom of the conference standings, Toronto trails the New Jersey Devils by six points for the second wild card from the East into the Stanley Cup Playoffs. However, they would have to pass eight teams in the standings to get there.
The Maple Leafs won the Atlantic Division last season and have qualified for the playoffs in nine straight seasons.
"I don't think we're turning the page right now on the season," Treliving said.
Savard, who among his responsibilities coached the power play, was not replaced. He joined the
Maple Leafs in June of 2024 shortly after Berube was hired as coach.
"It was a change we could make," Treliving said. "Never fun decisions to make or fun days. … Not putting the blame solely on Marc Savard's feet. We need to be better in that area. It falls on all of us."
For now, assistant coach Derek Lalonde will take the lead on coaching the power play, although Treliving did not rule out hiring a new assistant in the future.
"I know we all get wrapped up in who is doing what," Treliving said. "We will handle those responsibilities internally right now. Derek Lalonde will take a lead, active role as we get into today. We are going into a break so we will see where we go moving forward and if that is something we handle internally or if we make an addition to our staff externally."
The Maple Leafs power play is last in the NHL (13.3 percent) including 0-for-10 in the past three games. Last season, Toronto's power play ranked tied for eighth (24.8 percent).
Without forward Mitch Marner, who led Toronto with 33 power-play points last season and was traded to the Vegas Golden Knights on July 1, the power-play production of forwards Auston Matthews, William Nylander and John Tavares is down significantly; the three have combined for 15 power-play points this season.
"I don't want to just single out the power play, but it's been an area that to me, has cost us points in the standings," Treliving said.
