Five Maple Leafs who no longer look like fits in Craig Berube’s system

Photo credit: Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images

The current iteration of the Toronto Maple Leafs could use a shakeup, and there’s a chopping block of five players who could use a change of scenery.

There needs to be some serious changes beyond a couple faces here and there for depth. A truly lineup shaking difference that will make the team look and play different.

Craig Berube isn’t here to babysit passengers, and five Maple Leafs are being exposed by his system every single night.

If Brad Treliving wants this roster to stop bleeding points, there are certain players who don’t belong in what Berube is building and why their time in Toronto should be on the clock.

If I were GM, here are the five names I’d seriously consider moving.

Starting off with the elephant in the room and a player who gets a lot of attention, Max Domi is a player who could be described as adequate on the best of days and downright awful on the worst.

The team is paying him nearly $4-million to do what exactly? He’s not giving them a steady stream of offense, is a tough ask to play center given the defensive responsibilities, doesn’t play physical, and he’s on the ice for 4.7 goals against per 60 minutes this year.

That won’t cut it in a Craig Berube system and I’d seriously consider moving on from him.

Teams could use a veteran presence who has shown to have scoring ability, but he thrives best when not used in a defence-first system so he should not be looked at for anything beyond bottom-six offense.

Now you may ask ‘What? McMann? He’s solid!’

Yes, I’m not arguing Bobby McMann doesn’t help the Leafs — he does. But that’s exactly why you sell high.

No doubt the blazing speed and breakaway potential coupled with his hitting ability gives Toronto an exciting player to watch, but fitting into the overall system, it might not be perfect.

He’s been on the ice for 11 of Toronto’s goals against, and his normally strong possession numbers have dropped significantly from last season (57.8 CF/60 in 2025 vs. 61.5 CF/60 in 2024).

Also at only $1.35-million he’ll be enticing for other teams, and though he’s nearly 30 and only in his third full season can still offer an offensive punch.

But with Elliotte Friedman recently reporting that Toronto wants to make ‘hockey trades’ and go roster for roster, McMann is a casualty when it comes to tightening up the team overall.

If teams are looking for an exciting winger with 20-goal potential, they’ll find one in McMann, but Toronto has a enough of those already and need a better overall hockey player.

Ah Benoit. It’s hard to hate on the guy because of his charming personality and jovial nature, but his defense leaves a lot to be desired and for a team so heavily invested in their backend, he’s an outlier.

He’s struggled heavily this season and while the rest of the team has given the team some chance to score, Benoit has not.

At 5-on-5 he’s been on the ice for 107 scoring chances for, still roughly 20 fewer than Brandon Carlo and Carlo isn’t exactly known as an offense driver.He’s also averaging 3.77 goals against per 60 minutes this season, fourth worst on the blueline and if you eliminate Myers and Dakota Mermis‘ minimal playing time, he’s second only to Morgan Rielly who gets tons of minutes.

The one positive you can point to is his toughness, as he isn’t afraid to hit or blocks shots and has a knack for dropping the gloves too, and that could very well keep him in the lineup given Berube’s game plan.

While not as terrible as others on this list, Benoit’s presence hinders Toronto and with their need for a puck-moving defenseman he’s a likely trade candidate.

I hate to put him here considering that we’re only eight months removed from Carlo being dealt to Toronto, and he’s least likely to be cut given his reputation and skillset.

But Carlo has been below average, and the constant mental mistakes are costing the team.

For someone who was so vital to shutting down the opposition in Boston, this year teams are able to skate circles around him without issue.

His possession numbers have dropped steadily these past few seasons and while you’re not going to get Morgan Rielly levels of offense from him, he’s shown the ability to get 15+ points while playing stellar defense.

From 2022-24 Carlo had a plus/minus of +67, and is a career +135; it’s not like he’s a bad defenseman but his recent play hasn’t been to kind to him.

His actual play hasn’t matched expectations in Toronto so far, and the cost of giving up birth Fraser Minten and a first-round pick makes every mistake feel worse.

So this move is less about Carlo being bad, because he has shown even last season he can be a solid partner for Morgan Rielly.

At some point, the Leafs will have to decide if Carlo’s actual impact justifies both his cap hit and what they paid to get him.

In 10 games he’s been on the ice for 15 goals against, can’t defend the rush, and is holding a gaudy 6.3 GA/60. That means for every 60 minutes of play, opponents are scoring nearly six-and-a-half goals with him on the ice.

In a small sample, that’s brutal, and there’s nothing in his underlying game right now that suggests it’s just bad luck.

He’s 6’5 and 221 pounds with a much longer reach than your average player, so why he has ZERO takeaways is bizarre. You’re big and strong, use your size.

There is no reason he should be in any high-leverage situation, and if it weren’t for the injury to Chris Tanev — he’d be in the press box.

Only signed at $850,000 he’s not expensive, but the team needs someone who can give them anything positive on the ice, not in the accounting department.

Why this shakeup has become inevitable for the Maple Leafs

Things are going to get worse before they get better given the current trajectory of the team, and simply shaking up the lines with the same personnel is not going to yield results if they don’t fit within the overall system.

The team has to target players who are defensive-first, with the ability to forecheck and back check to equal effect. Berube’s system is brutal physically, and it takes specific players to manage that style of play.

Without that, you’re going to get more lacklustre efforts and blown leads which will inevitably lead to only more frustration from fans.

So there you have it. There’s five players who the Maple Leafs could cut that would see them improve their overall team, but it’s their responsibility to replace them with the right pieces too.

Again, this is one fan’s view of who no longer fits Berube’s system; not a list of players the Leafs are actually shopping.

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Five Maple Leafs who no longer look like fits in Craig Berube’s system

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