TORONTO — As the Toronto Maple Leafs and Florida Panthers gear up for a second-round series they expect to become a hotly contested battle, both sides are leaning on intelligence agents during the break between rounds to gain any edge they can.
On the Panthers’ side, forward Matthew Tkachuk says he’s picking the brain of his brother Brady, the Ottawa Senators captain who just experienced a six-game series loss against Toronto in Round 1.
For the Maple Leafs, head coach Craig Berube has met with Steven Lorentz, Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Anthony Stolarz — three members of his team who won a Stanley Cup in Florida last year.
“I’ve had discussions with them,” Berube said Saturday. “There are things that you might not know. More mindset stuff for me with those guys, being in the locker room and being around the organization and the team.”
Game 1 of the series starts Monday night at Scotiabank Arena.
While you might not think there would be much to learn between Atlantic Division opponents who played each other four times during the regular season, plus met in Round 2 of the 2023 playoffs, Tkackuk said during a Friday appearance on the “Pat McAfee Show” that his brother could provide plenty of relevant intel.
“I’ll ask a lot about individuals,” he said. “Like, what you can exploit with some guys. What guys maybe get a little too riled up. What guys you can get off their game. What guys are looking like they’re playing through stuff or look a little injured. It’s all the little stuff I’ll ask him.”
“The team morale skyrocketed when we got Brad Marchand..
It’s great to have a guy like him and he’s such a great competitor..
We’re so lucky to have him on our team and he’s such a complete player” ~ @TKACHUKycheese_ #PMSLive #TimeToHunt pic.twitter.com/zQK8nvbHgj
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) May 2, 2025
By finishing off their opening-round opponents relatively quickly, the Panthers and Leafs got an opportunity to rest and prepare for Round 2. Florida completed a five-game series with Tampa on Wednesday, while Toronto won the Battle of Ontario on Thursday.
Berube said his team expects the series with Florida to be harder than the one they just finished.
“It’s going to be a battle,” he said. “It’s going to be a grind.”
“There’s not going to be many friendships out there going forward,” said Lorentz, who signed in Toronto as a free agent after winning the Stanley Cup last June. “We just know what kind of series it’s going to be, we know what that team brings, and we know what we have to do to be able to try to stop that and play our game.
“It’s going to be a war.”
The Panthers lead all playoff teams in hits per hour with 43.40.
They use a system that relies heavily on retrieving pucks in the offensive zone with an all-out forecheck, and they’ve perfected it while reaching the Stanley Cup Final in back-to-back years, winning eight playoff rounds since 2023.
Florida also added Brad Marchand in a March 7 trade to a roster that already included Tkachuk and Sam Bennett, so they’ve got more agitators per 60 than any other team in the league, too.
Asked whether he thought Tkachuk might gather intel from his brother that can be used to push the Leafs’ buttons, Berube replied: “Well, if you allow people to push your buttons, then maybe. Don’t allow them to push your buttons. That’s the way I look at it. You can control what you want to control.
“Emotion plays a big part of the game — we all know that — and discipline, and composure,” he said. “We got through one round and it’s got to be more elevated now.”
There were two suspensions in the Panthers-Lightning series, including one to Florida defenceman Aaron Ekblad for elbowing that will carry over to Game 1 against the Leafs.
And while things may get fairly heated on the ice in Round 2, it seemed like there was already plenty of shared respect between the teams away from it.
“Toronto is a completely different animal. They’re so talented,” Panthers GM Bill Zito told The Athletic in an interview.
“I think it’s one of the perks of our game, that we’re able to have sincere fondness and respect for others and yet compete against them as hard as we can. You know: ‘I can’t stand those guys, but they’re really good guys and great players.’”
(Photo of Jaycob Megna and Calle Jarnkrok: Joel Auerbach/Getty Images)