Photo credit: Sportsnet
Insider leaks the names of two lead contenders for Leafs' coaching job
Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman has identified the two lead contenders for the Maple Leafs' vacant coaching job following Sheldon Keefe's dismissal in Toronto.
On Thursday, the Maple Leafs shocked the hockey world when they announced that they had fired Sheldon Keefe following yet another 1st round loss, this time to the Boston Bruins.Keefe was surprisingly optimistic and very grateful in his post-firing message to fans, emphasizing what an honour it was to be able to coach the Maple Leafs. But now, with the 2018 Calder Cup champion out of the picture, the focus shifts to who the Leafs might opt to bring in to coach the team next season.
During his most recent 32 Thoughts podcast, Friedman suggested that the two top candidates to land the gig are Craig Berube and Todd McLellan, but also threw Jay Woodcroft's name in there as a bit of a dark horse candidate.
"Barring any other availablities that I'm not expecting, I think the two lead contenders for this job are Craig Berube and Todd McLellan.
Now, I think Berube has had some serious talks with New Jersey, but New Jersey kind of seems to be at a point where they're deciding between Berube, Woodcroft, possibly McLellan and maybe anyone else I might be missing.
We'll see where this goes. If it goes beyond these two, I'd mention Jay Woodcroft, because Brad Treliving knows his body of work.
Also, don't forget, Shanahan played for Detroit for a year when McLellan was there as an assistant coach. So that's just another connection, even though it was earlier in McLellan's career, before he ever became a head coach, he does know him.
So we'll see where it goes, but I believe those are the key people that they're going to be looking at."
-Friedman on the Leafs' search for a new head coach
Now, I think Berube has had some serious talks with New Jersey, but New Jersey kind of seems to be at a point where they're deciding between Berube, Woodcroft, possibly McLellan and maybe anyone else I might be missing.
McLellan - I think Toronto would be the 5th team that would interview McLellan over this cycle and I think Seattle is very serious about McLellan.
We'll see where this goes. If it goes beyond these two, I'd mention Jay Woodcroft, because Brad Treliving knows his body of work.
Also, don't forget, Shanahan played for Detroit for a year when McLellan was there as an assistant coach. So that's just another connection, even though it was earlier in McLellan's career, before he ever became a head coach, he does know him.
So we'll see where it goes, but I believe those are the key people that they're going to be looking at."
-Friedman on the Leafs' search for a new head coach
Berube has been linked to the Leafs since even before the playoffs had began, dating back to the middle of this season when he had openly declared that it would be an honour to coach the Maple Leafs if such an opportunity became available to him.
McLellan, as Friedman pointed out, has garnered a lot of interest around the league this spring. As for former Oilers coach Jay Woodcroft, Friedman seems to have simply tossed that one out as another dart towards the dart board. At this point, there's been no evidence presented actually linking him to the Leafs.
Today's management press conference should be entertaining and perhaps we'll even get an approximate timeline as to when we can expect a new coach to be hired in Toronto. Stay tuned.
| POLL | ||
May 10 | 721 answers Insider leaks the names of two lead contenders for Leafs' coaching job Of the 3 names mentioned by Elliotte Friedman for the Leafs' coach job, who do you think is the best fit? | ||
| Todd McLellan | 44 | 6.1 % |
| Craig Berube | 405 | 56.2 % |
| Jay Woodcroft | 12 | 1.7 % |
| None of the above | 260 | 36.1 % |
| LIST OF POLL | ||
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