Toronto Maple Leafs Part Ways With Steve Briere

It seems the chaotic season in the crease that was for the Toronto Maple Leafs has met a resolution. Sportsnet reports that the team is parting ways with long-time goalie coach Steve Briere, whose contract was set to expire this offseason.

The Maple Leafs brought Briere into the organization for the 2015-16 season as an unknown. Briere had spent the previous five seasons as the goalie coach for the Topeka Roadrunners in the NAHL, the second-most competitive American junior league. He’s proceeded to serve as Toronto’s goalie coach for seven consecutive seasons, but he won’t be back for an eighth.

Across the board, Maple Leafs goalies struggled this season outside of Jack Campbell, who was injured for a good portion of the regular season. Backup Petr Mrazek battled multiple injuries as well, but even when in the lineup, posted just a .888 save percentage, which was the first time he’d posted a sub-.900 save percentage in a season at the NHL level. Now, whether or not Briere’s coaching or Mrazek’s health was to blame for that performance is up for debate, but the team still felt like a change was necessary to get the most out of their netminders moving forward.

Toronto’s goaltending situation is incredibly murky next season, though, and adding a new goalie coach into the mix will heed a complete refresh in the crease. Campbell is an unrestricted free agent and it’s unclear whether the team will have the cap space necessary to retain his service, and they’ll certainly try to trade Mrazek and his $3.8MM cap hit. One of Erik Kallgren or Joseph Woll is sure to get a shot at a full-time NHL role to help keep the team’s cap hit down, and the team will need to select their next goalie coach carefully as to not put a wrench into their development.