Craig Berube was let go by Toronto on Wednesday with two years remaining on contract, led St. Louis to only championship in franchise history in 2019
The inevitable almost seemed like a foregone conclusion once the Toronto Maple Leafs made the change to new management that Craig Berube's time with the organization was numbered.
The ax came down on Wednesday morning when the Leafs announced that Berube has been fired as coach.
Berube, who won the Stanley Cup with the St. Louis Blues in 201`9 and spent nine seasons in the Blues organization, was let go after the Leafs hired John Chayka as their new general manager and Mats Sundin as senior executive of hockey operations.
Berube, 60, spent two seasons as Leafs coach and according to multiple reports, still has two years remaining on his contract at $4.5 million per season.
After the Blues fired Berube 28 games into the 2023-24 season when the team was 13-14-1, he took the rest of the season off before being hired by then Toronto GM Brad Treliving. The Leafs would win the Atlantic Division title at 52-26-4 before losing to eventual Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers in the second round of the playoffs.
The Leafs would miss the playoffs this past season at 32-36-14, a 30-point dropoff but won the NHL Draft lottery and have the No. 1 overall pick but Berube won't be around to see it.
“Craig is a tremendous coach and an even better person,” Chayka said in a statement released by the Maple Leafs. “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.”
Berube began his Blues career as the coach of the Chicago Wolves in 2016-17 after coaching the Philadelphia Flyers for two seasons (2013-15); he would join Mike Yeo's staff as associate coach in 2017-18 before replacing Yeo in November of 2018, ultimately leading the Blues from the basement of the league to the Cup on June 12, 2019 when the Blues defeated the Boston Bruins in seven games to win it all.
Craig Berube (top, middle) was 84-62-18 in two seasons as coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs before being fired on Wednesday. (John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images)The Blues would reach the playoffs in each of the next three seasons before missing out at 37-38-7 in 2022-23, and ultimately leading to his firing 28 games into the 23-24 season.
Current Blues coach Jim Montgomery was Berube's assistant coach in St. Louis for two seasons (2020-22) before leaving the Blues to be hired as the coach of the Bruins for the 22-23 season. It's a crazy notion, but Montgomery and Berube are close friends, and if Berube wanted to continue to coach, would the Blues entertain bringing 'Chief' back under Montgomery's staff?
The Blues are looking for two, perhaps three, new assistant coaches and Montgomery will have a say in who the team brings in. Alexander Steen, who will take over as GM for Doug Armstrong on July 1, played for Berube for two seasons (2018-20), so just put the puzzle pieces together there.
Berube would likely be looking for another head coaching position rather than an assistant's job, and with the reported $9 million left on his contract, he has options to sit out of he chooses to do so, but with his ties to St. Louis and an ever-lasting affection with Blues fans forever and a previous respect factor and successful job he did with the organization, it's something to consider and not a reach by any means.
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