Huge Leafs internal war reportedly forced the team to pull the plug on Berube
Luke Fox went on Sportsnet and dropped a story that explains a lot about how the Toronto Maple Leafs season fell apart down the stretch.
The veteran writer detailed a practice scene between Craig Berube and William Nylander after Auston Matthews was lost for the year. Nylander was coasting through a power-play drill. Berube wasn't having it.
"There was a practice at the end of the year when things started to go sideways and Nylander was coasting through the power-play drill, not passing the puck with purpose and not shooting it."
Berube tried to fix it from the bench. "Willy shoot the puck! If you have a look, take a look and shoot!" Standard coaching instruction.
Nylander's response was the part that exposed everything. They started the drill again and he immediately fired without making the pass. Spitting in the face of his head coach's actual setup.
Berube reportedly tried to defuse it with humor. "Willy, stop being such a d-word." Fox added the context. "He tried to have fun but Nylander never took it seriously right?"
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Chayka inherits a captain question and a star with effort issues
That's the kind of story that doesn't leak unless something is broken inside a locker room.
The Maple Leafs finished 32-36-14 for 78 points and 28th overall. They ended on a 7-game losing streak.
Now we know why. The captain went down. The other star checked out at practice. The head coach lost the room without losing his temper publicly.
Berube has since been fired. The Leafs hired John Chayka as their new GM.
The coaching search is in full swing with Peter Laviolette, Jeff Halpern and others in the mix.
Nylander finished his regular season at 30 goals and 49 assists for 79 points across 65 games at minus-14. The 11.5 million cap hit is on the books for years to come.
That contract isn't moving. The numbers are too big. The term is too long.
The trade market for 30-year-old wingers with effort question marks isn't deep.
What Chayka has to fix is the culture. Matthews wants evidence of improvement. The supporting cast has to actually play hard every shift. Nylander has to buy in to whoever takes over the bench next.
If Laviolette gets the job, the first practice in September is going to look different than anything Nylander has experienced in Toronto. "Going hard, playing hard, time and space" doesn't tolerate the puck not being passed.
The Maple Leafs window has been defined by talent that didn't translate to playoff hockey. Now we have a specific story about why one of those stars made the head coach pause a drill in the middle of a season.
That's not a player ready for a deep run. That's a player who needs a different voice.
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MAY 18, 2026
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| G | A | PTS | ||
| Zachary Bolduc | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Rasmus Dahlin | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Phillip Danault | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Jordan Greenway | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Alex Newhook | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Alexandre Carrier | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Kaiden Guhle | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Lane Hutson | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Beck Malenstyn | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Ryan McLeod | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Owen Power | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Mattias Samuelsson | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Nick Suzuki | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Alexandre Texier | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Josh Anderson | - | - | - | |
| Zach Benson | - | - | - | |
| Bowen Byram | - | - | - | |
| Cole Caufield | - | - | - | |
| Kirby Dach | - | - | - | |
| Ivan Demidov | - | - | - | |
| COMPLETE STATS | ||||