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The Toronto Maple Leafs are in search of a new coach after general manager John Chayka fired Craig Berube on Wednesday.
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Published May 13, 2026 • Last updated 10 minutes ago • 5 minute read
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Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube talks to reporters during the end of season media availability last month. Ernest Doroszuk/Toronto SunArticle content
A season of failure has cost coach Craig Berube his job.
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Maple Leafs general manager John Chayka on Wednesday fired Berube, who couldn’t make the proper adjustments as the 2025-26 season continuously threw curveballs at the 60-year-old and his staff.
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“Craig is a tremendous coach and an even better person,” Chayka said in a statement. “This decision is more reflective of an organizational shift and an opportunity for a fresh start than it is an evaluation of Craig.
“We are grateful for his leadership, professionalism and commitment to the Maple Leafs organization and wish Craig and his family nothing but the best moving forward.”
The team said the next coach will determine the makeup of the remainder of the coaching staff.
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How the firing makes an impact in regard to the future of captain Auston Matthews remains to be seen.
Chayka had said on May 4, the day of his introductory news conference, that he looked forward to sitting down with Berube in the near future. At the time, Chayka — though calling Berube “a tremendous” coach — didn’t confirm one way or another whether Berube would return for a third season behind the Leafs bench.
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The firing of Berube should surprise no one.
The Leafs finished with 78 points, 30 fewer than they had the previous season when they won the Atlantic Division. Toronto rarely played with anything resembling structure, finishing near or at the bottom of many defensive categories including goals and shots against.
Injuries to a number of key players including Matthews, defenceman Chris Tanev and goalie Anthony Stolarz made an impact, but even when they were healthy, the Leafs often couldn’t get out of their own way.
With Berube gone, we present a list of potential candidates to become the 33rd coach in Leafs history:
BRUCE CASSIDY, fired by Vegas in March
When the New York Islanders hired Peter DeBoer on April 5, Cassidy took over top spot on the list of available coaches. Fired by Vegas on March 30, Cassidy never has missed the playoffs in nine years as an NHL head coach — three in Vegas preceded by six behind the bench of the Boston Bruins. Though Cassidy, 60, has not coached in Boston since 2022, he’s rather familiar with the Leafs’ core players. And there’s that Cup win in ’23 with Golden Knights. Cassidy will be in high demand, as we’ve seen with the reported interest from the Edmonton Oilers.
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PATRICK ROY, fired by the New York Islanders in April
We include Roy, 60, because he’s the most recent addition to the list of unemployed NHL coaches. The Hall of Fame goaltender has had coaching success in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, winning the QMJHL title with Quebec in 2023, but that has not extended to his time running an NHL bench. From 2013-2016, the Colorado Avalanche lost in the first round once and missed the playoffs twice under Roy’s watch. In his only full season as Islanders coach, the club missed the playoffs in 2024-25.
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MANNY MALHOTRA, coach, Abbotsford of the AHL
The 45-year-old Mississauga native had instant success in his first year as coach of the Abbotsford Canucks in 2024-25, leading Vancouver’s AHL affiliate to a Calder Cup title. That came after Malhotra apprenticed in the NHL as an assistant coach, including four seasons with the Leafs (2020-24) and three with the Canucks (2017-20). It shouldn’t be long before he gets his first crack at an NHL bench.
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TODD NELSON, assistant coach, Pittsburgh Penguins
Nelson’s coaching experience includes everything but a long run as the head guy in the NHL. He replaced Dallas Eakins in Edmonton midway through the 2014-15 season on an interim basis but was not retained. Otherwise, there is no debating the 56-year-old’s success: He has won the Calder Cup as an AHL head coach three times, in 2023 and 2024 with Hershey and in 2017 with Grand Rapids. He also has been an NHL assistant coach in Atlanta, Edmonton and Dallas.
JAY WOODCROFT, assistant coach, Anaheim Ducks
Fired by the Edmonton Oilers in November 2023 after starting with a record of 3-9-1, Woodcroft returned to the NHL this season when he joined Joel Quenneville’s staff in Anaheim. In between, the 49-year-old Woodcroft interviewed for several NHL jobs and came close in a few. A Toronto native, Woodcroft coached the Oilers to the Western Conference final in 2022 and the second round in 2023.
DEAN EVASON, fired by Columbus in January
The Blue Jackets didn’t make the playoffs a year ago — they missed by just two points in the Eastern Conference — but Evason, 61, was properly lauded for guiding the club through an emotional season following the death of Johnny Gaudreau. Evason was taken off guard when he was fired this winter after starting with a record of 19-19-7. In three full seasons as coach of the Minnesota Wild, Evason couldn’t get the team past the first round in each.
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DAVID CARLE, coach, University of Denver
Fresh off leading the Pioneers to their third NCAA title in five years, the 36-year-old Carle is deserving of any NHL attention that comes his way. There’s the back-to-back gold medals as coach of the United States’ world junior side in 2024 and 2025 that sparkle on Carle’s resume as well. If he’s not ready to leave the NCAA ranks yet, it can’t be long before he does.
JAY LEACH, assistant coach, Boston Bruins
The 46-year-old Leach has built a good coaching resume in the past decade guiding the Providence Bruins of the AHL for four seasons before spending three seasons as an assistant coach with the Seattle Kraken. The past two seasons, Leach, whose name has been in the mix for head coaching jobs in the NHL, has been an assistant with the Boston Bruins.
DEREK LALONDE, assistant coach, Maple Leafs
Of the Leafs assistants, Lalonde, 53, would be the best candidate if Chayka decides to promote from within. After he was an assistant coach on the Tampa Bay Lightning’s staff for back-to-back Cups in 2020 and 2021, Lalonde’s first shot at being an NHL head coach didn’t work out well. He was fired as coach of the Detroit Red Wings in December 2024 after the team missed the playoffs in his first two seasons running the bench.
X: @koshtorontosun
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