Some things never change, but one of those things is not the head coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs, an organization that is already looking for its fourth in the last decade following the firing of now-former Leaf Sheldon Keefe on Thursday, May 9.
“The organization will immediately begin the search for a new head coach,” the official Leafs’ statement announcing Keefe’s firing said, “and decisions regarding the remainder of the coaching staff will follow.”
At the time of this writing, three hours after the announcement was made, no further firings related to other staff members have been announced.
Following the news released by Toronto, The Athletic’s Joshua Kloke put together a comprehensive article on May 9 in which he lists a few candidates for the head coach position on the bench of the Maple Leafs entering the offseason.
Kloke highlighted the man sitting in pole position to be hired by Toronto’s organization: Craig Berube.
“The odds-on favorite out of the gates to replace Keefe,” Kloke stated while listing Berube atop his story. “That’s because Craig Berube ticks every box imaginable in terms of what Shanahan and Leafs GM Brad Treliving likely desire in a head coach.”
What Would Craig Berube Bring to the Toronto Maple Leafs?
Instead of presenting a list of available and currently employed head coaches without reasoning the picks, Kloke offers some analysis behind each of his picks.
As noted above, Kloke thinks that Berube “ticks every box” related to President Brendan Shanahan and General Manager Brad Treliving’s potential demands for their next head coach.
Kloke mentions “lengthy experience as a tough-as-nails player” as the first item on the Leafs checklist, “early just as many seasons spent behind NHL benches” as the second, and “arrive wearing a Stanley Cup ring” as the final accolade that could make for the perfect candidate.
Berube, for context, had a 17-year NHL career spanning from his debut in the 1986-87 season through the 2002-03 campaign. Overall, Berube played 1,054 regular-season games for five different franchises, including 40 games for the Toronto Maple Leafs.
The retired player, who manned the left wing, is 58 years old and he’s coached for eight seasons in the NHL with his first one coming in 2013-14 at the helm of the Philadelphia Flyers. He spent a couple of years in Philly before taking a four-year hiatus before joining St. Louis.
As the head coach of the Blues, Berube went on to win the 2019 Stanley Cup in his first season with the organization as an interim coach, a position he took over with the campaign already started. He stayed in St. Louis until earlier this year, when the franchise fired him on Dec. 12 just 28 games into the 2023-24 season with the Blues having a 13-14-1 record and 27 points.
Following his firing on December 2023, Berube told The Atheltic “I want to make sure I’m going to a good organization” when asked about what he would do in the future.
“You want to work with good people, and you always want an opportunity to win,” Berube told Jeremy Rutherford in an interview published on December 16. I want to coach, but I want to make sure that it’s the right situation.”
Why Did the Maple Leafs Fire Sheldon Keefe?
The writing was on the wall when it came to Sheldon Keefe’s future (or lack of it) within the organization, even though he signed a two-year extension on August 26, 2023, set to kick off next fall.
“Sheldon is an excellent coach and a great man; however, we determined a new voice is needed to help the team push through to reach our ultimate goal,” Leafs general manager Brad Treliving said in the franchise’s official statement.
That has been Keefe’s main failure in his four-and-a-half seasons as the head coach of the Leafs: making deep runs in the postseason, let alone winning the Stanley Cup or getting even remotely close to doing so.
Keefe took over the position in November 2019 as the interim coach after the Leafs fired Mike Babcock. He went on to post a 212-97-40 regular-season record reaching the playoffs in his four full seasons with the Leafs.
Once in the playoffs, however, Toronto only got past the first round once in four years and never won more than five games in a single postseason run.
This season ended in another first-round defeat, this time at the hands of the Boston Bruins with the definitive Game 7 played on Saturday, May 4, and sealing Keefe’s fate.
Keefe published a video on X, formerly known as Twitter, after the official announcement of his firing on May 9 in which he took the blame for the lack of playoff success during his time in Toronto.
“I didn’t get it done in the playoffs, I didn’t help push our team over the line and deliver,” Keefe started. “I accept responsibility for that, no excuses. That’s the job and I didn’t get it done.
“It’s a reality of the business and I accept it.”
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