EmailPrintOpen Extended ReactionsThe Toronto Maple Leafs have fired head coach Craig Berube, the team announced Wednesday."Craig is a tremendous coach and an even better person," Leafs GM John Chayka said in a statement. "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."The club's next coach will decide on the remainder of Toronto's staff. Derek Lalonde, Mike Van Ryn and Steve Sullivan all worked under Berube with the Leafs.Berube, 60, spent just two years behind Toronto's bench after being hired by former GM Brad Treliving in May 2024. He guided the Leafs to the postseason in his first year, advancing to a second-round series for just the second time since 2012-13.Berube went 84-62-18 with Toronto, but the Maple Leafs missed the postseason with a dismal 32-36-14 record this season. The drop in points -- from 108 to 78 -- was the team's largest year-over-year points decline.Treliving was fired in late March by Leafs CEO Keith Pelley, who replaced Treliving with Chayka earlier this month. Mats Sundin also joined the Leafs as a senior adviser.Toronto won the NHL draft lottery last week. The Maple Leafs are expected to pick either Gavin McKenna or Ivar Stenberg with the first overall pick on June 26 at the NHL draft in Buffalo.The Maple Leafs headed into the season with high hopes despite the loss of star winger Mitch Marner.Toronto added a trio of forwards -- Matias Maccelli, Dakota Joshua and Nicolas Roy -- in hopes of replacing those minutes by committee on a team thought to be still poised for Stanley Cup contention.The Maple Leafs, however, never really got out of second gear. Along with a string of key injuries and absences, the club largely looked out of sorts from puck drop.Despite a roster still anchored by star forwards Auston Matthews and William Nylander, the Maple Leafs' power play was a huge issue.Defensive deficiencies also caused glaring problems for a club that finished with the second-worst goals-against mark and was outshot a league-worst 66 times.Berube's coaching journey began with the Philadelphia Flyers organization after retiring as a player. He worked his way up the ladder, moving from the AHL to the NHL as an assistant in 2006-07.He took over as Flyers head coach early in 2013-14 and lasted another season before getting fired.Berube then led the St. Louis Blues' AHL affiliate after a year on the sidelines. He became an NHL associate coach in 2017-18 and was promoted to the top job with St. Louis in November 2018.Berube rallied the group, which at one point sat last in the overall standings, to make the playoffs before it went on a magical run that culminated with the franchise's only Cup victory.Berube lost in the first round each of the next three seasons and missed out entirely in 2022-23. The Blues fired him just 28 games into the subsequent campaign.Chayka will meet with the media Wednesday afternoon.Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
