The Toronto Maple Leafs head coaching gig is vacant after they fired Sheldon Keefe. It's a gig full of pitfalls and perils, but if you're the coach to finally win a Stanley Cupfor the Buds, you're guaranteed to get a statue outside Scotiabank Arena, an annual holiday in Ontario's capital, and a spot in the Hockey Hall of Fame.
Toronto Maple Leafs Next Coach Odds
Looking at the next Leafs coach oddsboard, you'll find a veritable who's-who of out-of-work coaches. The favorite to get the job is former St. Louis Blues head coach and 2019 Stanley Cup winner Craig Berube.
Coach | Odds |
---|---|
Craig Berube | +100 |
Todd McLellan | +115 |
Rod Brind'Amour | +700 |
Dean Evason | +900 |
Jay Woodcroft | +900 |
Gerard Gallant | +1000 |
Guy Boucher | +1200 |
Odds as of March 21
Leafs Next Head Coach Favorite: Craig Bebrube
It's easy to see why Berube is favored to coach the Maple Leafs. He was a hard-nosed player who, many believe, brought that style with him behind the bench. As one analyst put it "he's going to ask you to play hard or you won't play".
That's exactly what Leafs management and their fans want to hear. They want a guy who's going to demand 110% from everyone, including those superstar players. They want a guy who is going to fix issues like the one we saw with Pastrnak's series-clinching goal in Round 1.
Pasta sneaks right behind Marner pic.twitter.com/oxyKzETgoT
— Jesse Blake (@JesseBlake) May 5, 2024
And that's why Berube is the easy favorite to be named the Leafs' next coach. On paper, he's exactly what Toronto has been looking for.
But look, that's all platitudes. What coach isn't going to ask his player to play hard? And saying he's going to coach his players to play a "hard nose" style cause that's what he did just isn't true.
If you think Berube is stepping behind the bench and telling the Leafs to hit anything on skates or block every single shot out there, you're wrong. During his tenure as the Blues coach, St. Louis was 24th in hits per 60 at 20.56 while holding only 48% of 5on5 possession and was 26th for blocked shots per 60 at 13.33.
He's not the coach the Leafs think they're going to bring in.
Leafs Next Coach Odds: Rod The Bod
In Rod's six years behind the bench with Carolina, he's coached the Canes to the third-best regular-season record in the league at 278-130-44. He's won the Metro three times and won Coach of the Year in 2020-21.
I get why Beurbe is favored, but if current Carolina coach, Rod "The Bod" Brind'Amour becomes available you know he's the guy Toronto will go after him. Hard.
Toronto can pay Rod the top rate in the league. Currently, Brind'Amour is making a reported $1.8 million per year. Luke Richardson, who's got very little coaching experience and even less coaching success is making $1.5 million. Rod is worth the $4 million per year some of his contemporaries are making.
Not to mention the Leafs can spend to the salary cap limit and beyond to get him the players he needs. Unlike Carolina which operates below the cap ceiling.
I like Rod at +700. Sure, Hurricanes owner Tom Dundon has said an extension will happen. But seeing is believe and I don't see no signature on that contract yet Tom.