Maple Leafs closing in on former Stanley Cup champion HC

The Maple Leafs are not “far down the road” of naming Craig Berube their next head coach, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports Friday.

Berube, who won the Stanley Cup with the Blues in 2018-19 after taking over as their interim coach midseason, was fired partway through his sixth season at the helm in mid-December. The Blues went 13-14-1 under Berube in the early stages of the season but rallied to finish 30-19-5 under Drew Bannister, whom they recently signed to a two-year deal to remain as head coach. However, they missed the playoffs for the second straight season.

In two stops behind NHL benches with the Blues and Flyers, the 55-year-old has a career regular-season record of 281-190-72 (.584) and a 27-31 (.466). Outside of St. Louis’ 2019 championship, he guided them to only one other series win, a 4-2 victory over the Wild in the first round in 2022.

Berube has been viewed as the favorite for Toronto’s vacancy seemingly within hours of when they fired Sheldon Keefe last week. The Leafs also reportedly interviewed former Kings bench boss Todd McLellan, and Friedman confirmed Friday that they also spoke to 2018 Jack Adams Award winner Gerard Gallant in the past few days.

He was also in rather advanced talks with the Senators a few weeks ago, but Ottawa ended up doling out a four-year deal for former Canucks coach and Devils interim bench boss Travis Green instead. Berube has also interviewed for the Devils’ and Jets’ openings, but they’ll now need to look elsewhere.

Friedman’s report implies that Toronto won’t be waiting to see if the Hurricanes decide to part with Rod Brind’Amour, as suggested this morning. Brind’Amour, whose Carolina team was just eliminated in six games in the second round by the Rangers, is not signed for next season.

Berube’s main task will be helping the Leafs overcome their recent playoff scoring woes in hopes of a deep playoff run. The franchise has made the postseason in eight straight years, tied for the longest active streak in the NHL, but has only one series win, coming in 2023 over the Lightning. They averaged just 1.92 goals per game in this year’s first-round loss to the Bruins and were similarly held to 1.90 goals per game by the Panthers in the second round last season.