Former St. Louis Blues coach Craig Berube has been fired by the Toronto Maple Leafs after just two seasons as the bench boss.
Craig Berube helped coach the St. Louis Blues to a Stanley Cup win during the 2018-19 season, and the Toronto Maple Leafs were hoping he could do that for them as well.
Unfortunately, after two seasons, the Maple Leafs have regressed, and he was fired earlier this morning by newly hired GM John Chayka.
Although Berube’s tenure with the Maple Leafs ended on a sour note, it wasn’t all bad. In his first season, he guided the Maple Leafs to first place in the Atlantic Division during the regular season and past the Ottawa Senators in the first round of the playoffs.
In the second round, they found themselves up 2-0 against the Florida Panthers, but when the series was pushed to Game 7, the same issues they had dealt with under previous coaches resurfaced under Berube’s tutelage.
The following off-season, the Maple Leafs were forced to trade Mitch Marner to the Vegas Golden Knights in a sign-and-trade and were unable to replace his production. Instead, Berube and, at the time, GM Brad Treliving made moves to acquire bigger and more physical players, sacrificing speed and offense.
The moves did not pay off, and in the end, it’s what led to Berube and Treliving’s dismissal. The Maple Leafs finished with the fifth-worst record in the NHL, missing the playoffs for the first time in the Auston Matthews era and the first time in nine seasons.
The Maple Leafs brought in Berube, hoping to change the culture, but his changes were too drastic. Matthews was used far too frequently in defensive roles, which hampered his goal-scoring ability. The Maple Leafs became a dump-and-chase team, which negated some of the skills of players like Matthews, William Nylander, John Tavares, and Matthew Knies.
The Maple Leafs have a large analytics department, and under Berube and Treliving, they felt it was underutilized, according to Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment president and CEO Keith Pelley.
Chayka is a firm believer in using analytics to help build a roster, and it appears that whoever is brought in will have to do the same. With Berube, they posted lacklustre 5-on-5 results, their shot share was consistently declining, and their defensive structure, which was supposed to be the backbone of the team, was exposed nightly in 2025-26.
The next Maple Leafs coach will likely be a bench boss who wants to push the pace offensively and control the puck.
What comes next for Berube is uncertain. The 60-year-old has gained a reputation for elevating his players and improving play, but the gains last just a season or two.
For action-packed issues, access to the entire magazine archive and a free issue, subscribe to The Hockey News at THN.com/free. Get the latest news and trending stories by subscribing to our newsletter here. And share your thoughts by commenting below the article on THN.com or creating your own post in our community forum.