Date: November 7, 2025
Source: Toronto Maple Leafs (YouTube)
After practice, Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube spoke with reporters about William Nylander’s hot start, the team’s power play execution, and line chemistry. He also shared thoughts on Joseph Woll’s return and Matthew Knies’ compete level.
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On William Nylander’s Hot Start
“I think this year he’s making more plays with the puck and getting assists. Like I said before, he’s an underrated passer — he’s a good playmaker. But he’s always scored a lot of goals.”
On 5-on-5 Offense vs. Power Play Offense
“I’m not making excuses — we get one power play a game, maybe two. That’s a little bit of the problem for sure.
Now, in saying that, we’ve got to do a better job of executing on our power play with the chances we have. For me, we haven’t executed well enough. There’ve been plays that we’ve had in tight or good chances — we miss the net or we just didn’t execute well enough. That’s the biggest thing for me.”
On Shooting More Often
“I think we’ve been shooting the puck. If I look at the stats, we’re one of the top teams that have shot the puck on the power play — and that’s good. That’s not a problem. We’ve just got to keep shooting it and keep attacking, but we need to execute better on our grade-A chances.”
On Earning More Power Plays
“I don’t know — you have to ask the league. The last eight games, our zone time in the offensive zone is really good, and it’s gone up. That’s how you make people take penalties.
We just have to stay with it. We can’t focus on it or worry about it — just keep doing the work we’re doing, and eventually it’ll come around.”
On Brandon Carlo’s Play
“Just his assertiveness more than anything. If you watch his net-front battles and physicality, it’s been moving in the right direction. He eats a lot of pucks and breaks a lot of plays up with his stick. He’s been an effective player going back to last year for us.”
On Matthew Knies’ Effort
“What you saw last game — the effort, the second and third effort stuff — when he’s doing that, he’s a very effective player. He’s a second- and third-effort guy with the body and the skill that goes with it.
It’s all about that quickness and second- and third-effort. When he’s on top of things like that, he’s a hard guy to handle.”
On Joseph Woll’s Status
“He’s fine. He’s getting work, which is good. He’s going to go down and play some games with the Marlies, so that’ll be really good for him to get into action. That’s where I think he’ll start making some real strides — getting in games.”
On Cayden Primeau and Goalie Rotation
“Just because we wanted Woll to get that time. Stolarz was working with the goalie coach on some other things. I wanted Wollsy to have the whole net.”
On McMann and Robertson Together
“Oh, they played together in the Marlies? I didn’t know that — should’ve checked into that.
They have good chemistry together with their speed. They’re both real quick players — they get on top of things, they get in the corners and work well together, and eventually the puck gets to the net and somebody’s putting it home like last game.
I like that speed with Johnny down the wings. They get on top of things, and JT does his thing. They’ve played together quite some time now, have good chemistry, enjoy playing together, and it’s direct — straight lines, get it in deep, go to work. They expose people with their speed at times.”
On the Leafs’ November Momentum
“I can only go by the last year and a bit I’ve been here. What I’m seeing now — going back even to late October — is just playing to our identity and understanding that this is how we’re going to have success. When we do it, we’re pretty good. We give ourselves a chance to win.”
Pulse Takeaway
Craig Berube credited William Nylander’s playmaking, praised the team’s structure, and called for better execution on limited power-play chances. He noted the chemistry of the McMann-Tavares-Robertson line and highlighted Matthew Knies’ second-effort play as a model for the group.
Quotes from Craig Berube via Toronto Maple Leafs (YouTube). Used for analysis and commentary.
Quotes have been lightly edited for clarity and length.
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