Craig Berube hot seat leads to summing up Maple Leafs’ season in 2 words before trade deadline originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
The Toronto Maple Leafs still haven’t won a game since the Olympic break.
Advertisement
They were thrashed by the New York Rangers on Thursday night, 6-2, despite the Rangers being just as much of a rebuilding squad as any team in the NHL. It’s six losses in a row for Craig Berube’s squad, and his seat must be heating up ahead of Friday’s trade deadline.
Simply put, he’s not happy.
“Pissed off,” Berube summed up his mood to reporters postgame, via TSN.
MORE: Avalanche traded away, traded for defensemen born on exact same day
Advertisement
“The games are right there,” he added. “And we don’t push, as a team, hard enough to win them.”
Sounds like a summation of the season.
The Maple Leafs have too much talent to be as bad as they’ve been, but at this point, that doesn’t matter anymore.
They needed to be red hot out of the Olympics to avoid conversations about being trade deadline sellers. Instead, they’ve lost all six games they’ve played.
That means almost everything is on the table.
Advertisement
Bobby McMann and Scott Laughton are among the soon-to-be unrestricted free agents that could be traded.
Oliver Ekman-Larsson, even with term on his contract, could be moved, too.
There’s been speculation about a goalie trade, or even a move as bold as trading Matthew Knies.
All of that is to say nothing of Berube’s job security, which can’t be great at the moment.
It’s not a fun time to be the Maple Leafs.
More NHL news: