Craig Berube on Gudas' five-game suspension: "You lose your star player for the year, and the guy is a repeat offender... It just doesn't seem like enough"

"Looking at it, we lose our guy - our captain - for the year. I don't know. It doesn't seem like enough for me. But I am not in the position to make those calls. It is what it is. For me, I'd say it is not enough. You lose your star player and captain for the year. The guy doing it is a repeat offender. It just doesn't seem like enough."

"Definitely. I've not seen that problem here. Is it a one-off, or whatever? Obviously, we want more at that time. We didn't get it, but we did get the response we needed in the third period, which is good."

"It is always tough. You don't like to see that happen to anybody. We'll miss him. I reached out yesterday. It was pretty short. I will grab him at some point here and talk to him. I think he just needs to get his thoughts together. In a few days, we'll chat."

Craig Berube addressed multiple challenges facing the Toronto team ahead of their Buffalo game. He expressed disappointment with Radko Gudas' five-game suspension, viewing it as inadequate punishment for a repeat offender that results in losing the team's captain for the entire season. Berube acknowledged the league generally does a good job but declined to comment extensively on player protection policies. He noted a positive response from the team in the third period following the incident. Regarding Auston Matthews' season-ending injury, Berube expressed sympathy and indicated he would speak with Matthews after allowing him time to process the situation. The coach acknowledged the difficult atmosphere in the locker room following the injury news.

Read at Maple Leafs Hotstove