The Tampa Bay Lightning brought Ryan McDonagh back into the fold, re-acquiring him from Nashville in a rare mid-playoffs trade. On one hand, this is a good move for Tampa Bay in terms of team leadership and chemistry. McDonagh was a very big part of their Cup teams on the ice and in the room, if you ask his teammates. On the other hand, the Lightning are spending $23 million on their left side of the defense.

That said, they have $5 million to fill out 2-3 roster spots, which is very doable if they don't expect Stamkos back or are getting him for very cheap. I'll also guess we're going to see a Jeannot trade. Maybe Cirelli, too. Jeannot because he was a bad, overpaid fourth liner the moment he was acquired from Nashville. Cirelli because he never has lived up to the role of 2C that he's being paid to play.

Very thankful to MLHS for their Berube press conference transcript. Read what he's actually said, not just the cut up tweets online. Berube is very quickly getting meme'd into being the toughness coach, and for good reason, but these are the quotes that told me the most about what to expect:

We want to play a north game. We want to play fast. We want to be a heavy team. When I talk about heaviness, it is not running guys through the boards and fighting. Listen, the game has changed. But you still have to be strong on pucks and win puck battles. Those are priorities for me.
Playing predictable and north. Paying as fast as we can. Structure is huge. We have to have structure in all three zones. That is going to be a priority.

I'm on board for winning puck battles. Tavares will be an important part of that aspect going forward. You could see bigger roles for McMann and Holmberg because of that, too.

Keefe's teams also played with lots of structure, so I'm not sure what that's going to look like. But my instinct was to think "static defenders at the blueline" as a way to differentiate from Keefe.

If what Berube is looking for is a strong adherence to structure, I don't think Treliving should bring Domi, Bertuzzi, or Liljegren back. I won't object if Berube wants to coach Edmundson again. He was good on the third pair. My only hesitation is what kind of money is going to be spent on third pair guys that should be spent filling the chasms that are the 1RD and 2RD jobs right now.

New Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube on the “Berube” style of hockey: “We don’t want to get outworked ever... We want to play a north game, we want to play fast, and we want to be a heavy team”
At his introductory press conference as the Maple Leafs’ new head coach, Craig Berube discussed his decision to take the job in Toronto, his approach to instilling accountability, his early view of the club’s roster, and the identity of his teams. Opening Statement Berube: First, I want to thank ownership, Brad, and Brendan for giving […]
Maple Leafs HotstoveMLHS Staff

The brain trust is hard at work on it!

PWHL Minnesota tied up the series at ones with a 3-0 win over the Bostons in the PWHL Finals.

Kyle Dubas signed his old draft pick, Filip Král. He also re-signed the Marlies coach's son to a contract extension.

And hey, speaking of prospects that had tied to Kyle Dubas' time in Toronto!

From The Branches