Edmonton Oilers
Toronto Maple Leafs Fire Head Coach Craig Berube
The Toronto Maple Leafs have fired head coach Craig Berube. The team confirmed the news on Wednesday
The Toronto Maple Leafs have fired head coach Craig Berube. The team confirmed the news on Wednesday, posting on their social account that new GM John Chayka announced that the two sides have parted ways.
“Craig is a tremendous coach and an even better person,” said Chayka. “This decision is more reflective of an organizational shift and an opportunity for a fresh start than it is an evaluation of Craig. We are grateful for his leadership, professionalism and commitment to the Maple Leafs organization and wish Craig and his family nothing but the best moving forward.”
Darren Dreger reports, “Berube got the call this morning after spending several hours with Chayka and Sundin on Saturday discussing all aspects of the roster. Leafs management wanting to start with a clean slate.”
The Maple Leafs struggled this season, missed the playoffs, and brought in new management over the summer. There was a thought that Berube would get another shot as Chayka had called him a great coach and the two sides were set to meet this week to talk his opinion on what went wrong in 2025-26. Clearly, he was deemed to be part of the problem.
Some believe that the Leafs wanted to get Auston Matthews’ thoughts on his relationship with Berube. It is unclear if their conversation with the captain had anything to do with the change.
As for who the Leafs have in mind to replace him, that could be discovered quickly. There will be plenty of speculation about Bruce Cassidy and the timing of the Vegas Golden Knights denying him permission to speak with the Edmonton Oilers. These two things may not be at all connected.
Berube had two more years on his deal, paying him $4.5M per season. The Maple Leafs will remain on the hook for that unless Berube gets hired elsewhere.
More to come…
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