Craig Berube Identifies One Key Change His Maple Leafs Need to Make to Be Successful This Season

After a full day off for the Maple Leafs on Sunday, the team will get back to work on Monday, practicing up for a Tuesday evening matchup against former head coach Sheldon Keefe and his New Jersey Devils.

Unlike the Leafs, the Devils have been rock solid to begin the season, boasting an exceptional points percentage of .800 through the team's first 5 games.

Their 4-1-0 record is far better than the Leafs' middling 3-2-1 record through their first 6 games, so Craig Berube and his crew are going to have to be sharper on Tuesday than they were on Saturday against the Seattle Kraken.

There have been some bright spots in Toronto so far early this season, though, including the play of veteran winger William Nylander.

Nylander leads the team in scoring by a large margin, notching 2 goals and 9 assists for a total of 11 points. Matthew Knies is second in team scoring with 8 points.

Another bright spot for the Leafs has been the fiery and determined play of Anthony Stolarz, who has given his team a chance to win every night, even taking matters into his own hands over the weekend, when he was run into by Seattle's Mason Marchment.

There's no question that a 3-2-1 record through their first six games is disappointing for a Maple Leafs team, who are supposed to be Stanley Cup contenders and frontrunners to win the Atlantic Division. So, what gives?

Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube had some harsh words for his team following the loss to Seattle on Saturday, as shared by the Toronto Sun's Lance Hornby in a recent article, but he did also reveal what needs to happen in order to turn things around.

The Leafs are currently sitting 3rd in the Atlantic Division, behind the Montreal Canadiens and the Detroit Red Wings -- a spot they certainly do not want to be in for too long.

Given the low level of difficulty of their schedule to start the season, this is a team who should, by all rights, be where the Red Wings are right now, atop the Atlantic Division.

The team was rebuilt in the offseason to play a hard, but simple, north-south game, keeping shifts short and intensity high.

Thus far, though, the team's new additions have fallen relatively flat, and when you combine that with the Leafs' inconsistency within their new system, there have certainly been some early growing pains.

Matthew Knies recently called out the team for not playing a full 60 minutes, and the response following those comments yielded back-to-back wins against the Predators and Rangers.

Unfortunately, their lack of consistency led to a much tougher out against the Seattle Kraken on Saturday than anyone expected.

It will be interesting to see what Berube and the coaching staff do with their group at practice this week, with the Leafs having a relatively light week with just one game on Tuesday, before a back-to-back against the Buffalo Sabres in a home-and-home series on Friday and Saturday.