WASHINGTON, D.C. — Craig Berube has clearly seen enough. After continuing to hand out ice time to players who were struggling to start the season, the Toronto Maple Leafs head coach took the necessary step of scratching Dakota Joshua for Wednesday night’s win over the Columbus Blue Jackets.
It was a move that had been a long time coming. Joshua hardly impacted play through his first 22 games. The physicality and directness in Joshua’s game that the Leafs traded for have only come in spurts.
“It’s obviously been a struggle to start, and the only good thing about it is it’s only up from here. And that hopefully we’ve seen the worst, and personally and team-wise, that we’re in a spot that this doesn’t have to be the end of the story,” Joshua recently told The Athletic.
For Joshua, his night in the press box was indeed just a short chapter in his Leafs story. Berube said Joshua will draw back into the lineup against the Washington Capitals on Friday night. Joshua practiced on a line with Nicolas Roy and Bobby McMann on Thursday.
“I just think some players need a reset,” Berube said of the benefits of scratching a player like Joshua. “There’s different situations why you scratch a guy, and it’s not because of effort or anything with him. I just felt like (Joshua) needed to get a reset, and sometimes that’ll put a little more fire in them, too.”
For Berube, the scratching of Joshua, as well as Matias Maccelli, was warranted. It was evidence that, in the middle of a trying slump, Berube was not happy with the status quo.
Berube preached accountability early in his Leafs tenure. This season, Berube has often kept players in the lineup even when they haven’t held their weight.
Scratching Joshua and Maccelli suggests, however, that Berube is ready to continue taking regular NHL players out of his lineup if it gives his team a jolt. You can argue that this Leafs team, still flirting with a disastrous season, needs changes to its lineup. The overtime win over the Blue Jackets was just their second in nine games and kept the demons at bay for now.
So now, could Max Domi be the next player to spend a game in the press box? And if so, what would that mean for the Leafs’ lineup?
“I think positionally he’s been solid,” Berube said of Domi after Thursday’s practice. “I know his plus/minus doesn’t say that, but that’s not really … I wouldn’t say positionally that causes a lot of that. For me, (Domi needs to) get engaged more in the game. He’s got to get dirty down low in the offensive zone, win battles and get more engaged that way and get to the inside of the ice more. That’s what I see. And when he’s skating and moving, he’s an effective player. But it’s too inconsistent.”
It was difficult during Thursday’s practice to get an accurate read on what kind of lineup Berube will roll out. William Nylander did not practice due to a maintenance day and Berube insisted his star winger would play against the Capitals. Nylander’s absence then put a massive asterisk over the forward lines rolled out during practice:
Knies-Matthews-Robertson
Domi/Maccelli-Tavares-Cowan
Joshua-Roy-McMann
Lorentz-Laughton-Järnkrok
And yet there are reasons to suggest Domi might soon be scratched for the first time in his Leafs tenure.
During practice, Domi and Maccelli split reps on a line with John Tavares and Easton Cowan, leaving the door open for one or both of them to sit against the Capitals. They also split reps during power-play drills.
This comes after Domi could not complete a pass in his own zone during the third period against the Blue Jackets. The turnover led to a three-on-two against the Leafs and a Zach Werenski goal.
THAT ONE WILL COUNT! 🗣️
Zach Werenski opens the scoring late for the Blue Jackets 🚨 pic.twitter.com/zSJedlx1IA
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) November 27, 2025
How radically different would the short-term outlook for the Leafs be had Cowan not tied the game late in the third period and Werenski’s goal stood as the game-winner? Domi did not take a shift in the 4:40 of overtime played, either.
In the big picture, Domi has struggled this season. A playmaking force in his first season in Toronto, Domi has just three five-on-five points through 23 games this season. Defensive errors in his game continue to creep up.
At five-on-five, Domi has been on the ice for eight Leafs goals for and 20 goals against. His 28.57 goals-for percentage is the lowest among all Leafs with at least 20 games played.
Domi was previously scratched for multiple games as a member of the Blue Jackets in 2021.
The Leafs need more from Domi, just as they need more from Joshua and Maccelli. Yet Domi spent the game against the Blue Jackets on the first line. Berube appears to have lost confidence in Domi as a centre.
Add it up, and another move from Berube to, as he suggested, put a bit of “fire” in one of his players doesn’t seem so far-fetched. If there was ever a time to motivate Domi and remind him of what he’s capable of, doing so while also scratching other struggling players feels like the right moment.
Perhaps the reset could remind Domi of why and how he can be valuable to this Leafs team.
Let’s not forget that Domi was an effective player for the Leafs in 2023-24. His 2.73 five-on-five points per 60 minutes was among the league’s best and just a hair below Sidney Crosby’s 2.75 five-on-five points per 60 minutes. It’s early enough in the season that he deserves the benefit of the doubt that he can turn things around, just like Joshua and Maccelli deserve the same runway.
If Domi remains in the lineup, another forward will have to come out to make room for Joshua.
Perhaps Nylander will slot in for Nick Robertson, who skated on the right wing on the Leafs’ top line during practice. Perhaps Bobby McMann will come out, if only because McMann stayed out on the ice later than his teammates following Thursday’s practice.
Berube has scratched Robertson and McMann previously.
Yet right now, neither Robertson nor McMann’s play warrants time off the ice.
It’s rare for Berube to move pieces in his lineup after a win. But sitting in second last place in the Eastern Conference, these are not normal times for the Leafs.
That all leaves Berube with a lineup question as Toronto’s road trip continues. It may be a tough one for him to answer.
“It’s just part of it all,” Berube said on scratching players who have been regulars in the lineup. “It’s a tough part for everybody. Not so much me, it’s my job, but it’s tough on a player. But sometimes it gives him a little reset, and sometimes it puts a little more fire in him.”
