The Maple Leafs have spoken to several candidates, including Craig Berube, Todd McLellan, and Gerard Gallant, Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman reports.
The Maple Leafs have spoken to several candidates, including Craig Berube, Todd McLellan, and Gerard Gallant, Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman reports.
The Toronto Maple Leafs could have their next head coach by the beginning of next week.
Toronto has spoken with several head coaching candidates, Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman reported on Friday afternoon. However, only one person has stood out from the group of potential hires, and it looks like he'll be the next head coach in Toronto.
"Nothing is finalized, but multiple sources indicated Friday that the Toronto Maple Leafs and Craig Berube are far down the road on the process of becoming the team's next head coach," Friedman writes.
"Nothing is done until it is done, but it would be a surprise at this point if Berube is not the next Toronto coach."
Several other NHL insiders, including The Athletic's Pierre LeBrun and TSN's Darren Dreger, have also reported that Berube, who last coached the St. Louis Blues from 2017 to 2023, is likely to become the Maple Leafs' 32nd head coach.
Dreger, in particular, added on Friday morning on TSN 1050's First Up that the announcement could come as early as next week.
"I thought they'd have it done by today, end of week. No guarantee, but I expect that they'll probably make an official announcement early next week," Dreger said. "I mean, we're going into the long weekend here, so I'm willing to write off Monday.
"I'd be surprised if something isn't announced as early as Tuesday."
Berube has ties to Toronto as he played 40 games in the organization in 1991-92. He was then shipped off to Calgary in a massive 10-player trade which saw the Maple Leafs acquire Doug Gilmour.
The 58-year-old bench boss also led the St. Louis Blues to a Stanley Cup during the 2018-19 season.
UPDATE: The Leafs officially announced the hiring of Berube late Friday afternoon.
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