Craig Berube has been impressed with Connor Dewar after return from injury

Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube has been pleased with what he has seen from Connor Dewar since the forward returned from injury.

Dewar missed all of training camp and the first month of the regular season due to an offseason shoulder surgery. The 25-year-old made his on November 12th against the Ottawa Senators, and has been a mainstay in the lineup as the fourth-line centre ever since.

While he has gone scoreless through the first 10 games since being activated off LTIR, Berube has been impressed with Dewar’s play on the defensive end of the ice.

“He has provided some real energy for us penalty-killing and playing his game,” Dewar said to reporters after the morning skate on Friday. “I have been happy with him and how he is performing out there. He is a good energy player who skates, gets on top of things, and finishes his checks. He has done a good job in the penalty-killing situations and at the end of games when trying to hold leads and stuff like that. So he has been very useful.”

The underlying numbers may say that Dewar is a negative in terms of possession, shot attempts, and puck luck but a lot of it has to do with the fact he has been primarily used in the defensive end. He already leads the Leafs in defensive zone start percentage at even strength with a staggering 75.6 through 10 games while he is sixth among forwards in xGA/60 at 5v5 with 2.13.

Although he has yet to be on the ice for a goal at 5v5, his GA/60 is an impressive 1.28 which is fifth among forwards and eighth on the team overall. All of which is to say that Dewar has done his part defensively which is why he continues to be utilized in shutdown minutes alongside the likes of Ryan Reaves, David Kampf, and Nikita Grebenkin among others.

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Dewar credits his improved defensive play to the shoulder surgery because now he does not have to worry about it going into games like he did in the past.

“Coming to the rink last year, part of my preparation was ‘Here we go again, let’s hope it holds on well enough,’” he said via The Toronto Sun’s Terry Koshan. “I’d spend a lot of time before the game worrying about my shoulder, getting my shoulder ready to go. Now, it’s nice to have that comfort knowing that it’s stable and strong. There’s still stuff you have to do with it, but it’s but not as intensive as it was before.”

He will look to get on the scoresheet for the first time this campaign when he and the Leafs head down to Pittsburgh to face the Penguins on Saturday night.