Craig Berube wants — and expects — to be back as Toronto Maple Leafs [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/toronto-maple-leafs] head coach next season. It was no doubt a difficult season for everybody [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/toronto-maple-leafs/latest-news/craig-berube-not-going-to-get-into-whether-maple-leafs-need-culture-change-after-rick-bowness-comments-in-columbus] around the organization, from management to players, to even the fans who spent their hard-earned money in hopes the team would win. But there were countless speed bumps the Maple Leafs hit, causing them to veer off into the bottom of the NHL standings [https://www.nhl.com/standings/2026-04-15/wildcard]. When asked during his end-of-season media availability on Thursday about how this team went from top of the Atlantic Division last season to the basement this year, Berube stated, "Goals against." Toronto finished second-last in the NHL [https://www.nhl.com/stats/teams?reportType=season&seasonFrom=20252026&seasonTo=20252026&gameType=2&sort=goalsAgainst&page=0&pageSize=50] in that category with 295, only behind last-place Vancouver Canucks, who allowed 308 goals this season. Despite all of the problems Toronto faced this season, Berube believes this version (or core) of the Maple Leafs can return to the playoffs next season. "We have some good players here, and we have to make some adjustments," he said on Thursday [https://x.com/MapleLeafs/status/2044781757745058074?s=20]. "We have to make some moves to bring in maybe some different players or different people, but there's a good core here and good players and good people, so I do believe we can bounce back." Why, though, does Berube, whose coaching future hangs in the balance, believe he'll be back next season, especially when a new head of hockey operations hasn't been put in place yet? Report: Maple Leafs Begin Head Of Hockey Ops Search With Goal Of Hiring One Person [https://deweb-519a7.b-cdn.net/post-images/08f4ca66-f658-49ac-b222-916e3a53bc57.jpeg] Report: Maple Leafs Begin Head Of Hockey Ops Search With Goal Of Hiring One Person Pelley said during his media availability on Mar. 31 that the Maple Leafs are looking to hire a head of hockey operations. [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/toronto-maple-leafs/latest-news/report-maple-leafs-begin-head-of-hockey-ops-search-with-goal-of-hiring-one-person] Truth is, despite believing he'll be back, Berube is also unsure about his future in Toronto. "No, I haven't heard anything about [being back]," he said. "Same as you guys heard. A new GM gets hired and people there, and they'll make a decision." In what's now two seasons under Berube, the Maple Leafs have an 84-62-18 record, the 14th-best in the NHL [https://www.nhl.com/stats/teams?reportType=season&seasonFrom=20242025&seasonTo=20252026&gameType=2&sort=points&page=0&pageSize=50]. They reached the second round of the playoffs last year before getting ousted by the Florida Panthers in seven games. Time will tell if they can get back to that level. "I'm not going to sit here and talk about every little thing today about the on-ice performance and individuals' performance on the ice," Berube continued, "but those are things we've got to look at and assess and going forward here in what we're going to do."
