Zizing 'Em Up: Maple Leafs looking to change playoff narrative

NHL.com staff writer Mike Zeisberger has been covering the NHL regularly since 1999. Each Monday he will use his extensive network of hockey contacts for his weekly notes column, "Zizing 'Em Up.”

TORONTO -- In the upcoming Stanley Cup Playoffs, which start this weekend with new, vibrant storylines and fresh, emerging stars, questions that are two decades old loom over the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Why should fans be confident that these Maple Leafs can buck a history of playoff disappointment that has seen Toronto win just one series in the previous 19 seasons?

How are Toronto’s loyal supporters supposed to buy into hope when so many strong regular-season finishes have abruptly ended with crushing early-round eliminations?

Maple Leafs general manager Brad Treliving understands the weighted history but prefers to focus on his team’s efforts to make some of its own this spring.

The Maple Leafs swept back-to-back games over the weekend, winning 1-0 in overtime against the Montreal Canadiens at home Saturday and 4-1 at the Carolina Hurricanes on Sunday. In the process, they clinched home-ice advantage in the Eastern Conference First Round, though their opponent still is to be determined.

The victory against Carolina gave Toronto 104 points, which leads the Atlantic Division. The Tampa Bay Lightning, who are four points back, kept pace with a 7-4 win against the Buffalo Sabres on Sunday. Each has two games remaining.

If Toronto gets at least one point from either of those games, it’ll win the division no matter what Tampa Bay does and set itself up for a first-round matchup against the Ottawa Senators in what would be the first postseason Battle of Ontario in 21 years.

In the end, the Maple Leafs' season will be gauged on how they fare in the playoffs. Treliving knows that and said as much in a 1-on-1 sit-down with NHL.com this weekend, covering topics ranging from the pressure on the franchise for postseason success, to coach Craig Berube’s influence on the so-called "Core Four," to the struggles of Trade Deadline acquisition Scott Laughton.

First off, how do you, and for that matter, the entire team, maintain focus when there is so much white noise in this market circulating about past playoff shortcomings?

“Listen, that’s part of the marketplace here. So, whether it’s that, you get used to it here on a daily basis that things are noisy. It’s part of what makes this place special, the passion of the people here. The thing is, we can’t do anything about what’s happened in the past. Our focus is just about controlling today. That’s all you can really control, right? You can’t worry about what’s going to happen next week. You can’t worry about what happened yesterday. All you really can control is what you’re doing in the present, and that’s going to be our focus moving forward.”

Having said that, you opted last year to make a coaching change and move on from Sheldon Keefe, who is fifth in franchise history in regular-season wins (212) but guided the team to only one playoff series win, that coming in the Eastern Conference First Round in 2023. The decision was made to bring in no-nonsense Craig Berube, who helped the St. Louis Blues win the Stanley Cup in 2019. How much have you seen Berube’s fingerprints on this version of the Maple Leafs, and how much have you seen the players buy into the north-south style he’s been selling all season?

“Well, I think with 'Chief,' there’s a real honesty to him, right? I think the two words best associated with him are ‘honesty’ and ‘clarity.’ He’s honest with the players as to where they’re at. When it’s going well, he’s honest with them. When it’s not going well, he’s honest with them. He’s honest, but he also gives you a clear message of what is expected from a team standpoint and what’s expected individually. Everybody knows exactly what their role is. So, I think when there’s clarity and there is honest messaging, I think that’s all you can ask as a player. I’ve really enjoyed my time personally with him, just getting to know him over the course of the year. It’s been really enjoyable. And just watching him work, watching him around the players, watching the way he sort of pushes the group. I can’t say enough good things not only about the job he’s done but about the relationship we’ve built.”

How concerned are you about the slow start that Scott Laughton has had to his Maple Leafs career? You paid a significant price to the Philadelphia Flyers to get him at the Trade Deadline last month: a conditional first-round pick in the 2027 NHL Draft and forward prospect Nikita Grebenkin for Laughton, a fourth-round pick in the 2025 NHL Draft and a sixth-round selection in 2027. In his first 18 games with Toronto, the 30-year-old has just two points (one goal, one assist) and is minus-5, certainly less than expected.

“Listen, he’s a local kid from just west of here in Oakville. It’s a big adjustment. I think he’s gotten better. It’s not just grading his performance on goals, assists and points. Like I said, I think he’s gotten better daily. I’ve had a good couple of chats with him. He’s feeling more comfortable just coming here. It’s a big adjustment, especially when you’re from here. When you’re from here you hear from a lot of friends you didn’t know you had. I just think he’s feeling more comfortable with the group in the room, and finding his place. He’s not a guest anymore. This is his home. So, yeah, I think he’s finding his way, and I think he’ll continue to get better.”

After Toronto’s first-round exit to the Boston Bruins last spring, you were candid in your assessment that things needed to change in order to alleviate the recent cache of playoff failures. “I think we're at a point where we see this repeatable, and we've got to dig in,” you said at the time. “The results, sitting here today, when we think we should still be playing, isn't acceptable.” Having said that, what results would you, in fact, consider to be acceptable in these approaching playoffs?

“This is going to sound cliche, I know, but it also holds true: We have to worry about each night. Period. Nothing past that. When you start getting too far ahead of yourself, that’s when it becomes difficult. Look, regardless how this thing ends, you’re going to be playing a good team. So, we can all sit here and agree everybody’s goal is the same thing, to be the last team standing, but for us, it’s small picture. Focus on the game ahead. Understand this one’s done, park it, move on, and get ready for the next one. We’ve had that mentality all year. Just worry about the day that’s in front of you. Worry about the day you’re in. So, yes, we’ve all got a goal we want to accomplish here but that goal can only be accomplished by focusing on the day. That’s all we can do.”

Finally, having said all that, how do you like the direction your team has been trending in and how far do you think it can go?

“We’ve still got a couple of games to go down the stretch, but for the most part I’ve liked our consistency. We had a lot of injuries, especially the first half of the year, and we’re battling some now. But by in large I think we’ve been a fairly consistent team. There’s been very few nights where the work ethic and the competitive level wasn’t at the standard you want. Since we came off a 2-0-1 road trip through California in San Jose, Los Angeles and Anaheim last month, I like what we’ve been doing. We won four of our next five games. We’ve had a lot of different contributors. So, certainly I’ve liked where this group is. But like I said, we’ve got an important week upcoming and then you prepare for the next week.”

REMEMBERING RAY

In the days after longtime executive Ray Shero’s death last week, there was a flood of stories remembering one of the more colorful characters of the modern-day sport.

And why he was known as that.

Here’s mine.

About an hour after the New Jersey Devils won the No. 1 pick in the 2017 Draft Lottery, then-GM Shero was sitting with a couple of fellow GMs and a reporter at a Toronto watering hole.

He wrote a name on a piece of paper and pushed it to the middle of the table.

"That's who we're taking," he said wryly.

Turns out Shero was toying with us.

He was mirroring a scene from the 2014 movie "Draft Day" when the Cleveland Browns GM, played by Kevin Costner, wrote down the name of the player he was going to take prior to the NFL Draft.

Linebacker Vonte Mack.

The same name Shero wrote down.

Shero had a good chuckle at our expense. He pulled the same thing on Devils staff as the draft approached. In reality, he was quite secretive about who his choice would be.

In the end, the Devils took center Nico Hischier, who is currently their captain and has 420 points (171 goals, 249 assists) in 526 career games.

Shero, who was serving as senior adviser to Minnesota Wild GM Bill Guerin, was 62.

MISCHIEVOUS MILLEN

Along with Shero, the NHL last week lost another iconic personality with the passing of longtime broadcaster and former goalie Greg Millen.

Much like Shero, he could be a mischievous chap.

His favorite go-to prank in the press box was sticking a pin in the bottom of a paper coffee cup. He’d then find a place to observe (and snicker) as some unsuspecting media member would have java leaking on them after filling up the cup, not knowing it had been purposely perforated.

On the other hand, nothing would rile him up more than being reminded of Encil “Porky” Palmer.

Palmer was a longtime Buffalo Sabres trainer who would stand behind the Zamboni entrance near the opposition net during the first and third periods of games at the old Memorial Auditorium in downtown Buffalo. When the puck would slide along the boards in that area, he sometimes would nonchalantly kick the door, causing it to change direction and ricochet into the slot.

During his playing days, Millen was burned on more than one occasion by that situation and wasn’t afraid to rant about it, even decades after he’d retired.

“He did it one time and the Sabres ended up scoring,” Millen often said. “I lost it. I went to the glass and slammed my stick at him, right at his ear. They had enough of an advantage with the rink being smaller. But that was too much.”

There will be no shortage of Millen tales making the rounds when a celebration of life in his honor for friends, family and colleagues takes place at the Peterborough Memorial Centre at 1:30 p.m. ET on Thursday.

Millen was 67.

THE LAST WORD

As the NHL regular season enters its final handful of days, here are three key games that will affect seedings heading into the playoffs next weekend:

Monday, Chicago Blackhawks at Montreal Canadiens: If the Canadiens get one point in either of their final two games, they clinch the second wild card in the East. Here’s their chance to do it in front of the home fans. Cue the party.

Monday, Los Angeles Kings at Edmonton Oilers: A playoff preview of two teams who’ll meet in the first round for the fourth consecutive season. Edmonton has won the previous three. PS: They really don't like each other.

Tuesday, Florida Panthers at Tampa Bay Lightning: There’s a good chance these teams meet in the first round. PS: They don’t like each other either.