Is Berube sending message by scratching Joshua, Maccelli?

Is Berube sending message by scratching Joshua, Maccelli?

the two moves that they made outside of Marner for Wah which was really forced upon them and Vegas had them by the screws. So it was like we’ll get what do you think you can get? All right, we’ll take Nick W. Think that’s a good play. W’s a good player. He rejoins the lineup tonight. It sounds like Machelli and Joshua are going to be healthy scratches tonight. Those are the only two moves Trey Living made. Yeah, that’s the only thing he did is bring those two guys in. Kind of wanted to give those guys and both those teams have been awful. Yeah, like Utah and Vancouver were terrible last year and they’re like, “Please just get take these guys for picks.” And there wasn’t really any movement in the offse. So I I mean the ones that they might have wanted like Mason Marchman got basically dumped for like a second round Seattle but the Leafs don’t have a second round. Like they didn’t have a pick, right? There just wasn’t a lot of movement. like a lot of guys just returned to their teams and there weren’t a lot of trades and you know obviously Tree Living was trying to dig around and do something and he he took a gamble on these two guys doesn’t mean it’s their their time in Toronto is officially over but if you’re game 23 and it’s desperate and you’re both healthy scratches which is what we believe happens tonight that is also a sign that’s a message from the coach to the GM like hey thanks for helping but I’ll take it from here cuz I’m I’m dying here and I got to get guys going and I kind of appreciate that desperate times all for desperate measures. Like that’s when you know it’s that’s when you know it’s at a point, Brian, where he’s like, I I’m not doing these guys any more favors and getting the courtesy dressed in the lineup, which should send a message to other guys in the lineup saying, I’m I’m not pissing around anymore. I don’t care what your status is, unless you’re a N or a Tavaris or a Knander or Matthews. Everyone else should be scared to death about coming out of the lineup cuz I started with those two and it’s going to start hitting home for the other guys. Do you think he’ll actually do that though? Because we’ve never seen him do that. Like you’re talking like Max Diomy’s the one like that’s the guy he’s had a terrible start. He’s been worse than both those guys. He’s been arguably their most detrimental player on the ice. Yes. And continues to play. Yes. Not only continues to play play center where he’s dying. Now he’s probably going to move tonight. Yes. But well, whoever the personnel is, that’s that should be the message. I’m starting with those two guys. And for anyone else that I’ve given the benefit of the doubt, it starts now because I’m tired of doing favors. We can’t wait around for anybody to play well. So, we’ll see what happens. But he had no choice with those other two guys. Complete and you know fair like I’m just trying to be fair. I don’t want to be negative. But watching them play, they are not contributing. Zero doing nothing. Not not doing it. They had to come out. I talked to both of them actually yesterday. Joshua seemed more distraught about like where he was at. Like you could kind of tell like you know when you can talk to a guy a player and you can tell like oh man he’s like fighting it. like he felt that way. Machelli felt more I don’t know like I think it’s gone better for Machelli. He just he’s not a Bubet player. Like that’s pretty clear. And you wonder like dating back to the summer like why they thought he would work under Bubé. Everybody’s got a different style of play. Not everybody goes out there and hammers guys through the boards and fights. Whatever you do, whatever skill set you do and it’s what makes teams good is everyone is you have a bunch of different unique players. and Machelli could have been one of them. But the thing is, it’s just like this show. All three of us offer different perspectives. But if you’re garbage and you don’t know how to do the show, the show stinks, right? I guess my everybody on the ice has got to bring their own thing. And he wasn’t bringing it at all. Could have been very effective. Was given a hell of an opportunity on the top six with with both Tvar and Austin Matthews. Didn’t play, couldn’t contri. Yeah, those are all fair points. I guess the only thing I would say is like I guess I mean like stylistically the type of player that he is. It’s going to be hard for him to win over someone like Craig Rub. Like he’s like he’s not like he’s not big. He’s not really fast. He’s not like he’s not super hard on pucks. Those are those are decisions. Those are decisions he makes. I said the same thing about Max. Listen, I said the same thing about Max Doi. If your skill game’s not flying, you can offer and completely alter your game to say, “I got to do something effective here. I might find myself in big trouble.” You’ve seen guys in the league who are top point producers that still have it in their mind that they’re doing that, but they’re not. Like, statistically, they’re not. And they keep they have this ego where it’s like, “I’m a skill guy. I’m a skilled guy.” You got to bring something else to the table. Finish your checks. Be hard on pucks. Get them in. Get them out. Blah blah blah. And if you don’t change and do those things that are that that can make you somewhat effective, you become useless. Completely useless. Well, and that’s what is concerning about the disposition that you’re you’re you’re explaining. Yeah. Because if his if if his if his approach is, hey, I’m I’m just I’m Machelli, man. That’s you know what I mean? Like I’m going to Machelli this thing and it’s not like I’m not changing. If he machelli’s his thing, he’ll be out he’ll be out of the game. I’m Michelli. If he’s Machelliing it, then the tough thing for him is like he has to take risks to make plays and risks turn into oddman rushes which turn into goals which piss the hell out of the coach which gets you scratched. But if you look like statistically there’s more of a case for him than it it’s looked. Like he’s produced okay in his minutes. I don’t think he’s not a top six forward on a good team. Clearly, that’s the problem. And that’s the problem just in this middle area. I’ll explain to you. I’ll explain to you strategically why that’s happened to him and a bunch of other ones. They haven’t generated enough zone time to have confidence with the puck and make those plays. So, they’re just having limited limited offensive zone time or they might just cross the blue line. And he thinks, “Oh, now’s my time to make one of my Machelli plays.” And he coughs it up and now’s my now’s my time to show that I’m a skill guy. and he coughs it up and then the coach goes nuts and pulls his hair out and says, “I can’t stand that guy.” So, as an offense, uh, like together, they just haven’t had the puck enough to have confidence and make those plays cuz if you’re cycling and dominating and being, uh, you know, active with defenseman pinching and you always have the puck, you can you could get away with the odd giveaway and the coach will be like, “Oh, it was a good try. You had you had him tired. That was a good try.” But they never have that. And it’s forcing guys to put themselves in position where they’re forcing it themselves. It’s like I got to do something creative here and it ain’t the time. It ain’t the time. Well, and with Joshua, I wonder if he’d like a a doover with Jack eyee on Saturday night. Like maybe that literally that simple. I dropped the gloves and fought him and then it changes something. But he’s win some respect from like the coach at a minimum. It’s like I just didn’t put up with something and I I showed I’m snapping. It’s like it’s Yeah, it’s old school. But you know who would have done that 30 years ago is his coach. Yeah. You know, like his coach would have said, “I’m not doing this. I’m going to snap and let people know I’m not happy.” So, we’ll see. They’ll get back in the line something. Jack eye is a heavyweight. And sometimes you look at a guy and say, I hear you. That guy is out of my class, man. Bash his head. Yeah. Easy for me to say, “Hey, go out and just fight a guy.” I get it. But I’m just saying like he is a big boy that has fought throughout his career. He has not yet in Toronto. And if you’re if you’re risking a scratch, there have been guys wired like that throughout their career that are like, I’m not going to accept that. So, I’m curious what he does the next time he gets in. They’ll put him back in. What this team needs to do, watching Dallas last night, even watching Edmonton when they had sparks of life. The defensive stuff is clearly important. They have to forche better. Yeah. Like, they’ve got to forche as a team better. You’ve got to put pressure on teams. Well, it’s what Jeff talked about. It’s circular. If you’re not forchecking, you’re not spending zone. And that’s got to start tonight.

Bryan Hayes, Jeff O’Neill and Jonas Siegel discuss Dakota Joshua and Matias Maccelli being healthy scratches against the Blue Jackets and the message it’s sending to the rest of the players on the roster.

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