Some weeks, when you are writing daily about the Toronto Maple Leafs, you feel like the story writes itself. After two wins in a row, this one has been a little different — quieter on the surface, but with a few threads tugging at the deeper fabric of the team.
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The Maple Leafs meet the Carolina Hurricanes tonight, looking like a team that has finally picked up some speed of its own. They’ve won two straight, three of their last four, and their 4–1 win in Florida over the Panthers might’ve been the quickest, most connected game Craig Berube has seen from his group all season. With 11 goals over their past two games, which is easily their most productive stretch of the season, the Maple Leafs show up not just confident, but trending in the right direction at the right time.
You can see what Berube has been pushing, settling in now. Something is happening in the way players (take the team’s third line, for example) are responding in ways you don’t always catch on the scoresheet. A shift is happening in the tone of the room, in the roles players are growing into, and in how the bottom half of the lineup is helping shape the whole.
This edition of Maple Leafs News & Rumours will try to engage that feeling. There’s Scott Laughton, who’s been here only a blink and already walks around like someone checking the temperature of a room he’s responsible for. There’s Nic Roy and Dakota Joshua, who, with Bobby McMann, make up the energized third line. Suddenly, it looks like the kind of reliable, identity-driven combination every coach hopes to stumble onto by Christmas.
And, for those readers who don’t follow the American Hockey League (AHL) Toronto Marlies, there’s Matt Benning down the hall, reminding everyone that depth isn’t just a word you toss around. Sometimes it’s a veteran who’s paid his dues and still has something left to give.
Here are three items shaping the Maple Leafs’ current context.
Item One: Laughton’s Quiet Leadership Already Shaping the Room
Scott Laughton hasn’t been in Toronto long, but you wouldn’t know it from the way he moves through the team environment. Berube was asked what Laughton brings, and he didn’t reach for anything complicated. He said the guy brings spirit. The everyday sort, the kind teammates notice when they’re taping sticks or trudging onto the ice after a tough loss. He’s always talking, checking in, nudging guys when they need it, and lightening the mood when things tighten up.
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Berube’s coached long enough to understand how rare that is. Teams talk endlessly about culture, but it lives in small moments, and Laughton seems to have a knack for stitching those together. The coach compared him to Pat Maroon from his time in St. Louis. While Laughton doesn’t play the same style, he lifts the emotional load for the group through his everyday interactions with his teammates. Toronto has been looking for this kind of presence for years: a connecting piece, someone who gives the room a pulse when the schedule gets heavy.
Laughton won’t lead the team in scoring, and he probably won’t be the first to a microphone. But if you ask around six months from now, don’t be surprised if teammates say he helped change the atmosphere. That’s his gift.
Item Two: Roy and Joshua Finding Their Stride Under Berube
Roy arrived in Toronto without much noise, but Berube has always liked his game. He’s dependable down the middle, strong on the puck, and rarely panics. You can build shifts on players like that. And as the season has unfolded, Roy has become the quiet pivot holding together what has recently become one of the Maple Leafs’ most consistent lines.
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The real fun has been watching his chemistry with Joshua and McMann. When you put three players (each one with some size, physicality, and secondary scoring ability) together, and they start reading off each other naturally — getting pucks back, sustaining pressure, arriving in those predictable areas good coaches love — you don’t touch it. Joshua, especially, looks like a different player when he’s moving his feet.
Berube called that the difference in his game, and he’s right: when Joshua skates, he tilts the ice. Having watched him with the Vancouver Canucks for several seasons, I was surprised he hadn’t shown this same ability before the past couple of games with the Maple Leafs. At his best, he certainly was a difference maker for the Canucks.
This line won’t dominate the scoresheet, but it’s becoming the kind of identity trio that keeps teams honest. Straightforward, north-south, hard on pucks, and increasingly comfortable. The Maple Leafs have tried for years to build that kind of depth line. In a small sample size, it looks like they might finally have one.
Item Three: Matt Benning Makes a Statement in Return to Marlies Lineup
Down with the Marlies, Matt Benning stepped back into the lineup after a month off and wasted no time reminding people why he’s valued. Three assists in a single game, which doubled his season output, isn’t something you expect from a defender known more for steadiness than flash. But Benning always could settle a game down and move pucks skillfully.
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His numbers this season are modest, as they’ve always been. He’s never pretended to be anything but a reliable depth defender, and his eight points last season reflect the role he fills. But games like Wednesday’s are the kind that keep a player on the organizational radar. If injuries crop up again on the Maple Leafs’ blue line, Benning’s experience and calm game make him a natural candidate for a recall.
For now, though, his job is simple: keep stacking dependable games with the Marlies. Let the coaches remember you’re there.
What’s Next for the Maple Leafs?
The schedule stiffens again, and this is the stretch where Berube’s influence should become clearer. The Maple Leafs have played with more structure, but they still need to find that extra layer of consistency — the piece that makes them a good team.
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If Laughton keeps grounding the room, if Roy’s line keeps carrying play, and if depth pieces like Benning stay sharp in the AHL, this club might quietly round into something steadier than many expected. There’s work to do, but there’s finally some hope that the foundation is settling.
