The Toronto Maple Leafs, after a tumultuous start of the week, are now settling into the business that their new management team had on the agenda to tackle right after taking the job. Now that the clown show of a press conference announcing GM John Chayka and Senior Advisor Mats Sundin is in the rear view mirror and the lucky lottery ball has given the Leafs the top pick in the 2026 NHL Draft, the club has to determine whether to bring back head coach Craig Berube after a disastrous season that saw Toronto drop 30 points in the standings from the 2024-25 Atlantic Division winner.
Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, in his latest 32 Thoughts podcast, indicated that a meeting between Chayka and Berube is on the agenda, and could be this weekend or early next week. It could be more than a one-day meeting, as there is a lot to talk about.
Friedman said that as part of the interview process, the Leafs were very respectful of Berube, but did not take a position on whether he should be back, which leaves Sundin and Chayka to decide what they want to do with the veteran bench boss. He also said that it was clear that MLSE boss Keith Pelley liked Berube, but did not say that keeping him was a condition of taking the job.
This could just be for public consumption, because the opinion of most of the fanbase and a great deal of the observers of the club on a day-to-day basis that Berube’s mishandling of the roster and usage of his key players contributed to the downfall of the club this season. It is not fair to put all the blame on Berube, but there were things that he did not do during the season, and at times showed that he lost control of the club.
Another key criticism of Berube was the implementation of younger players like rookie Easton Cowan early in the season, and youngsters Jacob Quillan, Luke Haymes, and William Villeneuve late in the year, when the club was out of the playoff race, to see if they could be potential NHLers next season. This has to be a big consideration when the Leafs add a Gavin McKenna or Ivar Stenberg with the top pick next month.
Friedman also pointed out that with Toronto switching to a more data-centric direction might not be a good sign for Berube, since the Leafs were a very poor team last season. Chayka and Sundin will give Berube a chance to make his case as to how he can fix it.
The old expression of how a leopard can change its spots would apply here. The Leafs could be the only team looking for a head coach in the offseason, unless DJ Smith is dispatched in Los Angeles, Kris Knoblauch is fired in Edmonton, or Vegas decides not to bring back John Tortorella. With Bruce Cassidy out there, and younger coaches like Abbotsford’s Manny Malhotra as a popular option, Chayka and Sundin would be wise to go in another direction. Bringing Berube back would be unpopular, especially with the perception that the main reason he would be back is because he has term left on his contract.
Other items from Friedman indicated that Auston Matthews might want to wait until as late as July to decide his future in Toronto, to see what Chayka and Sundin do with the draft and in free agency before making his decision.
While anything is possible, it sounds as if a meeting with Matthews is next on the agenda after a decision on Berube, and that Chayka and Sundin will need some sort of decision and determination from the Leafs captain of his buy-in for the immediate future.
Another former Leaf that could possibly be in the mix for a position with the Leafs is Florida Panthers Director of Player Personnel Bryan McCabe. McCabe is a former teammate of Sundin and Friedman indicated that new New Jersey GM Sonny Mehta might be trying to bring McCabe into the fold with the Devils.
