Maple Leafs Interview Dallas Eakins For Head Coaching Vacancy

The Toronto Maple Leafs interviewed former Anaheim Ducks and Edmonton Oilers head coach Dallas Eakins earlier this week, David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period reports.

Toronto’s new hockey operations leadership – GM John Chayka and executive advisor Mats Sundin – appear to have zeroed in on coaches with previous head coaching experience in this stage of their coaching search.

Yesterday, we covered reports indicating that the Maple Leafs entered the interview stage with former New York Islanders head coach Patrick Roy, and former New York Rangers head coach Peter Laviolette.

Like Roy and Laviolette, Eakins would bring experience as an NHL head coach at multiple stops if he were to be hired as head coach in Toronto. Eakins is currently the head coach and sporting director of Adler Mannheim, a club in the DEL, the top division of professional hockey in Germany.

He has been in the role since the 2023-24 season. Mannheim have made steady progress under Eakins’ leadership. They lost in the DEL quarterfinals in his debut campaign, the semifinals in his second season there, and the DEL finals in 2025-26. One of Eakins’ top players in Mannheim, two-time DEL Defenseman of the Year Nicolas Mattinen, is a former member of the Maple Leafs organization.

Before he left to begin his career in European pro hockey, Eakins had a lengthy career as a coach in North America. It began just a season removed from the end of his playing career in 2005-06, as an AHL assistant coach for the Toronto Marlies on the staff of future Florida Panthers head coach Paul Maurice. Maurice was promoted to the head coaching job in Toronto for 2006-07, and Eakins followed him to the NHL.

After two years as an assistant coach with the Maple Leafs, Eakins returned to the AHL. He served as head coach of the Marlies from 2009-10 through 2012-13, reaching the Calder Cup Final in 2012. Eakins’ success in Toronto earned him his first shot to become an NHL head coach, hired for the 2013-14 season by the Oilers. But the early 2010s Oilers were not an easy place for a young coach to begin his career, and Eakins was fired 31 games into his second season with the club. Across approximately one and a half seasons in Edmonton, Eakins’ Oilers went 36-63-14.

Eakins returned to the AHL for what would become a four-year stint with the San Diego Gulls, the AHL affiliate of the Anaheim Ducks. Eakins’ Gulls posted a winning record in every season he coached, making runs in the playoffs in three of four campaigns. Once again, Eakins’ success as an AHL coach – in terms of both winning games and developing players – earned him another NHL head coaching job.

But just like in Edmonton, Eakins joined a Ducks organization lacking the kind of talent to make a serious push for playoff contention. Eakins coached in Anaheim during the bulk of the early portion of the Ducks’ rebuild, going 100-147-44 in his four seasons there.

While Eakins was an NHL head coach for 404 games, he has not had the chance to coach a team in a true contention phase. That could change if he receives the job in Toronto.

While the Maple Leafs endured a nightmarish 2025-26 season, the organization intends on returning to contention very quickly. Chayka has indicated the club believes it can make the necessary changes to return to the playoffs quickly – and their ability to retain star center Auston Matthews may depend on the front office delivering on that belief.

While Eakins doesn’t have a playoff track record in the NHL to this point, he’s put together an impressive resume at the AHL level and over the past three years in Germany. He also has experience in the ever-demanding Toronto market, which can be a factor working to his benefit.

If he’s hired in Toronto, the hope will be that the level of talent the Maple Leafs have to will allow him to reach greater heights compared to what he had access to in Anaheim or Edmonton.

Photos courtesy of James Carey Lauder-USA TODAY Sports