After the Toronto Maple Leafs fired assistant coach Marc Savard on Monday, many began to speculate that head coach Craig Berube may be on the chopping block as well. Speaking with the media yesterday, Maple Leafs General Manager Brad Treliving put those rumors to bed.
According to TSN’s Chris Johnston, when asked about Berube’s future in Toronto, Treliving said, “I want to make it clear. I support Craig fully.” Still, knowing the pressure the Maple Leafs face consistently, things can change relatively quickly in Toronto. Berube is 68-41-9 (61.4% win percentage) as the Maple Leafs’ head coach, but the team has fallen five points back of the final wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference and is in 23rd place in the league standings.
If Berube stays, it won’t be because the Maple Leafs didn’t have any external options, either. The recent head coach of the Dallas Stars, Peter DeBoer, is still seeking a new job and may jump at the chance to guide an Original Six franchise. Since the 2011-12 season, with four different teams, DeBoer has coached his team to eight Conference Final appearances and two in the Stanley Cup Final. However, he has yet to coach a team to the sport’s highest glory.
Additional notes from the Maple Leafs:
- Now that Savard has exited the organization, the Maple Leafs needed a coach to take over the team’s power play, which is last in the league with a 13.04% success rate. Reporting from Treliving’s media availability, Terry Koshan of the Toronto Sun shared that Derek Lalonde will be tasked with that duty. During his time as head coach of the Detroit Red Wings, the team was one of the best with the man advantage, though much of that rested on the shoulders of Lalonde’s assistant coach at the time, Alex Tanguay.
- When it comes to how the team will approach the other half of the regular season, David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period suggested that the Maple Leafs could look to move out some money. Pagnotta listed players such as Max Domi, Brandon Carlo, and Matias Maccelli as obvious candidates to be on the move. Still, given that Treliving shared that the team was not ready to punt on the 2025-26 campaign, it’s unlikely that the Maple Leafs are going to make many subtractions from their roster.