Down to 2 candidates for coaching job in Toronto!

On Thursday, the Toronto Maple Leafs fired head coach Sheldon Keefe, and when on Friday morning, Keith Pelley, Brendan Shanahan and Brad Treliving addressed the media following the end of the season, it was reported that the team was already down to two candidates for the coaching job.

According to insider Elliotte Friedman on the 32 Thoughts podcast on Friday, the leading contenders for the head coaching position in Toronto are Craig Berube and Todd McLellan.

“Barring any other availabilities that I’m not expecting, I think the two lead contenders for this job [TOR HC] are Craig Berube and Todd McLellan.”

“Now, I think Berube has had some serious talks with New Jersey, but New Jersey kind of seems to be at a point where they’re deciding between Berube, Woodcroft, possibly McLellan, and maybe anyone else I might be missing.”

You may recall that Berube was on TNT’s broadcast the other night when TNT co-host Paul Bissonnette made a chirp to Berube about being the Leafs’ next coach and… well… Berube’s reaction was interesting to say the least. Berube basically sat there in stunned astonishment and didn’t say a word. This led Leafs fans online to rush to the conclusion that he’d be hired once Keefe was officially fired.

Berube, 58, coached the St. Louis Blues from 2018-19 until being fired on Dec. 12. The veteran coach won the Stanley Cup in his first season with the team, and has recently been linked to other clubs, notably the New Jersey Devils.

As for McLellan, he was fired by the Los Angeles Kings in early February. He had hired as the head coach of the Kings in 2019 after being dismissed as the Edmonton Oilers’ head coach. Over his four and a half seasons, he amassed a 164-130-44 record in the regular season, making the playoffs in each of the last two years.

There is no doubt that the Leafs need a no-nonsense coach with a history of getting it done at crunch time. Let’s see when they can pick the top contender and get a plan in place in Toronto for the 2024-25 campaign.

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