The New York Islanders played the Toronto Maple Leafs on Dec. 31 in a game that reflected where both teams are in the standings. The Islanders are near the bottom of the Metropolitan Division and played like a failing and hapless group, especially on the offensive end of the ice. The Maple Leafs on the other hand are one of the top teams in the Eastern Conference and played dominant hockey in a 3-1 victory.
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The game showed the gap in the Eastern Conference but more importantly, it showed the difference between the two teams behind the bench. Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube has done what Patrick Roy couldn’t do for the Islanders. Berube got his team to the next level and made them a Cup contender, and not the same type of team that’s poised for an early playoff exit.
Berube Balanced Out the Maple Leafs
When a casual fan typically thinks of the Maple Leafs, a few things might come to mind. The collapses in the playoffs, the longest Stanley Cup title drought in league history, and the Original Six branding might stand out. In recent seasons, this team was known for offense, with Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, and William Nylander leading one of the best forward units in the NHL. The Maple Leafs averaged 3.80 goals per game in 2021-22 and 3.63 goals per game in 2023-24.
This season, the Maple Leafs are led by their defense. Yes, they average 3.10 goals per game but they allow only 2.78 goals per game and are shutting teams down in their zone. Some of the credit goes to great goaltending and a defensive unit that looks great from the top down but Berube has this entire team bought in on two-way hockey.
The defensemen are eliminating opposing offenses while the forwards, who are typically known for their offense, have also contributed on the defensive end of the ice. Sheldon Keefe was known as a coach who had balanced teams but could never fix the defense. Berube has the buy-in from the entire team and it’s made the Maple Leafs a team to watch this season. They don’t look like a team poised to fail in the playoffs and the optimism comes from the coach behind the bench.
Roy’s Islanders Still Have Similar Issues
When the Islanders fired Barry Trotz in the 2022 offseason, the criticism of the team was that they couldn’t score and they played a slow and outdated style of hockey. Halfway through the 2023-24 season, Lane Lambert, who was hired to replace Trotz, was fired for the opposite reasons since the team played without structure and was a mess on the defensive end of the ice.
The hope was that Roy would change that. He was hired to balance out the Islanders and allow them to win with offense but also play disciplined hockey to win games on the defensive end of the ice. At first, it looked like he was turning the Islanders around as they played balanced hockey and made the playoffs at the end of the 2023-24 season.
Fast forward to this season and the Islanders remain the same mess that they were under the previous two coaches. While the defense is bad but not awful, allowing 3.18 goals per game, the offense is one of the worst in the NHL. The Islanders average 2.63 goals per game and have the worst power play in the league holding them down.
Roy is an energetic coach who can inject some life into a team that doesn’t have it. It only takes a team so far. He has made the most of the situation but ultimately isn’t going to turn this team into a contender.
Maple Leafs Will Be Cup Contenders, Islanders Won’t Be
What makes Berube’s first season with the Maple Leafs all the more impressive is that he has the team near the top of the Eastern Conference despite Matthews, Anthony Stolarz, Max Domi, and multiple depth skaters missing significant time to injury. Lots of teams use the injury bug as an excuse but the Maple Leafs have kept on humming along. Berube not only preached the next-man-up mentality but adapted to keep this team near the top of the standings.
When Matthews went down to injury, Berube made sure the team played defense-first hockey but also with more physicality. Likewise, he’s had this team playing playoff hockey since the start of the season. Better defense is part of that but Berube also has the team forechecking and winning in multiple ways. He was the coach who led the St. Louis Blues to their first and only Stanley Cup title in 2019 and knows what it will take to have the Maple Leafs prepared for a playoff run.
The Islanders meanwhile at best can sneak into the playoffs. Even if Roy gets the most out of the roster and the team overachieves, they won’t contend for the Cup. They have plenty of weaknesses that have doomed them this season and would make for a quick playoff exit if they got in.
In Roy’s Defense, He Was Given a Bad Hand
Roy is not a bad coach and he will be successful in the long run. His tenure with the Colorado Avalanche was a rocky one but the Islanders have seen firsthand that he can have this team playing great hockey. The problem is he isn’t one of the elite coaches who can make them a Cup contender when the roster isn’t great, and this roster particularly isn’t.
The Islanders were set up to fail this season with general manager (GM) Lou Lamoriello putting together a team that was aging and one-dimensional. They needed to be healthy to have success and a few injuries have turned them into one of the worst in the NHL. There’s only so much Roy can do when the team on the ice isn’t talented.
If the season continues to go south, Roy might be the one to take the fall. However, the struggles won’t be his fault. Berube was fired by the Blues in the middle of the 2023-24 season and it was only a matter of time before he was back in the NHL leading a competitive team. Roy will eventually lead one himself, whether it’s with the Islanders or not.
