Could the Maple Leafs and Oilers End Up Swapping Coaches?

Aside from those still remaining in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, no teams around the NHL have garnered more attention in recent days than the Toronto Maple Leafs and Edmonton Oilers.

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Craig Berube fired on Wednesday, and Kris Knoblauch mercifully let go on Thursday, creating head coaching openings in two of the highest-pressure markets in the NHL, both led by superstars whose expectations are to win now.

Toronto may be a bit further away from true contention and could opt to go the younger route, whereas Edmonton’s window to win is immediate, likely pushing them toward a veteran coach. For those reasons, it’s fair to wonder whether we could actually see Berube and Knoblauch swap places after all, becoming head coaches of the Oilers and Maple Leafs, respectively.

TSN insider Darren Dreger brought up the possibility of both during a recent appearance on OverDrive.

“So then when you get past Bruce Cassidy, who’s better—like, who’s better for the Edmonton Oilers than Kris Knoblauch? … Well maybe you throw Craig Berube into the mix now that he’s available.

Like, I don’t think that Kris Knoblauch would be automatically on Toronto’s list, but developmentally, here’s a guy too that I didn’t realize how much he leans on analytics support in Edmonton as a coach. Does that move the needle for John Chayka too, to at least have the discussion with him? It has to be on the table. It has to be,”

The 60-year-old Berube went 84-62-18 in the regular season and 7-6 in the postseason across two seasons behind the bench in Toronto, while Knoblauch, 47, posted a 135-77-21 regular-season record along with a 31-22 playoff mark in parts of three seasons in Edmonton.

Plenty of other candidates will be in the mix for both openings, but given what the Maple Leafs and Oilers both want and need, there’s certainly still a chance we could see Berube and Knoblauch behind NHL benches next season—and how fascinating would it be if that came in Toronto and Edmonton?

Next: Oilers Insider Points to Three Veterans as HC Options in Edmonton