Who will be the next Toronto Maple Leafs Head Coach?

Who will be the next head coach of one of the most historic NHL franchises, the Toronto Maple Leafs? 

After another early playoff exit, the Toronto Maple Leafs organization decided to shake things up in their locker room by firing their head coach of the last five seasons, Sheldon Keefe. 

To many Leaf fans, this did not come as a surprise. Seeing the same result year after year with the same persona leading the way, the Toronto Maple Leafs knew change needed to be made. 

After being relieved of his duties, Sheldon Keefe took to Twitter to send a final farewell to Leafs Nation, thanking them for his time as the head coach of this historic organization. In Keefe’s Twitter video, he said he was forever grateful for the opportunity to coach the Maple Leafs, which he called “a dream come true for a boy from Brampton.”

With Keefe now in the past, it begs the question, who will be the Toronto Maple Leafs head coach next season?

There are many great coaches on the market that teams are constantly looking at. As for the Toronto Maple Leafs, here are three great coaching options that could benefit this organization and attempt to bring it to the promised land of hoisting Lord Stanley’s Cup. 

1. Craig Berube

A very well-respected former coach who has been popping up everywhere since the Toronto Maple Leafs fired Sheldon Keefe, is Craig Berube. 

In December of 2023, the St. Louis Blues relieved Berube of his coaching duties after the team was not looking great heading into the new month.

General Manager Doug Armstrong said he was “tired of seeing the Blues as a punching bag,” leading to the decision to fire Craig Berube. 

Berube brought this team in 2019 to its first-ever Stanley Cup when no one thought they could do it after being last in the league in January of that year. 

Berube is a tough coach who wants everyone to bring 100% effort into every game; otherwise, you will not play. With a mindset like that, I think it would be beneficial for some of the Toronto Maple Leafs players, as it is something they have not seen in a long time. 

Under this new style of coaching, you can expect to see the Leafs become a better defensive, tougher, and harder-to-play-against team in the National Hockey League. 

2. Todd McLellan

The next contender in line after Craig Berube for the Toronto Maple Leafs head coaching position, according to the odds book, would be Todd McLellan. 

In the first 2 months of the 2023–2024 NHL regular season, the LA Kings were one of the hottest teams in the National Hockey League, going on an 11-0 streak on the road. Since then, the results have not shown up. 

January was not a great showing for the Kings, as they went on two six-game losing streaks. After that poor month for L.A, General Manager Rob Blake made his decision. 

Like Berube, McLellan is another tough coach who is hard on his players and wants everyone’s best efforts. 

With McLellan’s coaching history showing he can make the playoffs consistently, with a team that the Maple Leafs have and players like Matthews, Marner, and Nylander, there is no doubt McLellan can establish a winning culture in the Leafs locker room.

3. Jay Woodcroft

In February of 2022, Jay Woodcroft was hired by the Edmonton Oilers. In the playoffs of that year, the Oilers went on to defeat the LA Kings in game 7 of the first round, won in five games against Alberta rivals, the Calgary Flames, and got swept by the Colorado Avalanche in the Western Conference final. 

In your first few months as a head coach, you go all the way to the Western Conference final, it seems Woodcroft did a solid job with that Oilers group. 

Heading into this season after a tough second-round exit to the Vegas Golden Knights, the Edmonton Oilers had very high expectations, as they were the projected favorites to win the Stanley Cup. 

Nobody expected what was about to come into the city of Edmonton. The Oilers, in their first 12 games, had a record of 2-10, losing one of those 10 games to the San Jose Sharks, who did not win a game all season up until that point. 

After that game, general manager Ken Holland had enough and fired Woodcroft. 

Woodcroft is still a good coaching option for many teams, and as for the Maple Leafs, Woodcroft would be a great option. 

With the short amount of time Woodcroft has been an NHL coach, he has proven that he can bring a team into a deep playoff run that the Toronto Maple Leafs have not seen in a long time. 

The Leafs have a very tough decision to make, as this could make or break the organization’s playoff future.