Craig Berube's familiarity with new assistant will pay dividends for Maple Leafs

The Maple Leafs intended to shake up the roster this offseason, although it wasn't the exciting splash fans were hoping for; the pieces are there. Adding Chris Tanev and Oliver Ekman-Larsson to the backend while shoring up their goaltending situation by signing premier backup Anthony Stolarz will definitely be a huge boost to the new mentality instilled in Toronto.

Part of that new mindset is a focus on improving the powerplay; something Toronto has seen a lot of ups and downs recently. Who better than to bring a powerplay specialist into the fray? Berube trusts Savard, someone who helped Berube with the Blues in 2019-2020 not only due to his IQ but his presence.

Berube's certainly knows how deadly Savard was on the powerplay, scoring 80 goals with the man advantage throughout his career though was also notorious for getting into the nitty gritty, eclipsing the 100 minute mark for penalties in 2005-2006.

Savard's career was cut short due to a concussion and the development of post-concussion syndrome; officially retiring in 2016-2017 and finished with 207 goals and 499 assists in 807 NHL games with the New York Rangers, Calgary Flames, Atlanta Thrashers and Boston Bruins; he was selected in the 4th Round, 91st overall by New York in 1995.

For the full Leafs Morning Take episode:

Source: Hockey Reference
Marc Savard Statistics and Bio

Elite Prospects
Marc Savard Coaching Record