After 5 seasons as head coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs, Sheldon Keefe has been relieved of his duties:
Keefe did a fantastic job in the regular season during his time here, but was continually outcoached in the playoffs, which made this inevitable.
Now the search begins for a new coach. Here are some options:
Craig Berube is the name on tip of everybody’s tongue at the moment. The former Toronto Maple Leaf coached the St. Louis Blues for 6 seasons, leading them to a Stanley Cup Championship in his first year behind the bench. While the hot play of goaltender Jordan Binnington certainly went a long way towards earning that title, it’s also worth noting that the team was off to one of their worst starts in franchise history before he took over behind the bench that year (that may be a lie, I just made it up, but it could be true).
Darryl Sutter, the former coach of the Calgary Flames, is the last coach that Brad Treliving hired. It didn’t go well, but would be as far from a players coach as you could get and might be exactly what the Leafs need.
Joel Quenneville is a free agent and may be one of the best coaches in the world. Cancel culture would be on full display if the Leafs hired him.
Gerard Gallant has coached 4 different teams over parts of 11 seasons behind an NHL bench. He has been to the playoffs 5 times where he lost in the 1st round 3 times, the conference finals once and the Stanley Cup Finals once. He never seems to manage to stay anywhere for long despite having some success as a coach.
Bruce Boudreau is still on the market, as he didn’t get an offer to be an NHL head coach this past season. He most recently worked for the Vancouver Canucks in 22/23 and the players loved him there. I think I’d embrace the idea of him as an assistant coach, but too much “buddy buddy” with the current roster isn’t what they need right now.
Jay Woodcroft has been linked to the New Jersey Devils, but some believe that he may be an option for Toronto as well. His experience isn’t vast, having coached just 1 full season with the Oilers as well as parts of 2 more. In 2 trips to the players he brought the Oilers to the Conference Finals and 2nd round before being ousted.
Todd McLellan entered the league as the head coach of the San Jose Sharks and took them to 5 straight Conference Finals, losing all 5 of those meetings. He has since coached for the Oilers and the Kings, but has never made it out of the 2nd round since leaving San Jose. He has an abundance of experience, but not Rings to show for it. He should be on their short list of interviews nonetheless.
Guy Boucher is currently an assistant coach for the Leafs and some say he may already have the inside track. He coached Tampa Bay and the Ottawa Sentors, both for parts of 3 seasons each and took both to a single Conference Finals visit before exiting the post season. He may be a more serious contender for the position than some want to admit.
There are more options out there and some that could potentially be available in the near future. Of the coaches that may hit the market Rod Brind’Amour and Mike Sullivan are very interesting to me. Brind’Amour has taken the Carolina Hurricanes to the 2nd round or further in all but 1 season behind the bench, while Sullivan has 2 Stanley Cup Rings to plug his ears when the Toronto media starts getting too loud. I think Brind’Amour’s passion would make him my #1 target if he becomes available, but, as will always be the way, there may not be any ideal candidates.