Maple Leafs Make Initial Contact With David Carle
The Toronto Maple Leafs have had an “initial conversation” with University of Denver head coach David Carle to “gauge his interest” in potentially filling Toronto’s vacant head coaching position, reports Elliotte Friedman in Monday’s edition of the 32 Thoughts podcast. Friedman cautioned that the talks between Carle and the Maple Leafs are purely preliminary, and that neither Carle, nor anyone else, should be considered the favorite in the process at this time.
According to previous reports, the Maple Leafs may be targeting a “fresh face” as their next head coach – a departure from their previous coaching search, which resulted in the hire of a Stanley Cup-winning veteran in Craig Berube. Carle, 36, is widely considered to be among the top coaching candidates who has never held a coaching role in the NHL, or even at the professional level. Carle has been the Denver Pioneers’ head coach since 2018-19, and is a three-time NCAA national champion in that role. He’s also won a gold medal as head coach at two World Junior championships – at both tournaments he got to coach. It’s been widely reported that Carle will be selective about where and when he eventually decides to turn pro (and if he even does) and has already withdrawn himself from consideration from one NHL search in the past.
- The Edmonton Oilers have received permission to speak with Berube, the former Maple Leafs coach, reports Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet. Berube was fired by the Maple Leafs less than a week ago after his second season behind the bench there. The 60-year-old, as previously mentioned, led the St. Louis Blues to their franchise’s first-ever Stanley Cup championship in 2019. Berube’s first season in Toronto was reasonably successful, as the club went 52-26-4, and won a playoff series for just the second time in the Auston Matthews-led “Core Four” era. But Toronto fell in the second round to the eventual champions, the Florida Panthers, and endured a disastrous 32-36-14 campaign in 2025-26. The Oilers are under significant pressure to win a Stanley Cup as soon as next season, and it appears the club may target the most experienced coaches available, and specifically those with a Stanley Cup win on their resume.
Maple Leafs Make Additional Front Office Changes
After already executing a general manager change and firing their head coach, the Maple Leafs aren’t done making significant staff changes this offseason. Assistant general managers Brandon Pridham and Derek Clancey will not retain their positions next season, the team announced. Pridham’s departure is a mutual agreement and was first reported Saturday by Steve Simmons of the Toronto Sun.
The moves are two weeks to the day after John Chayka was installed as Brad Treliving’s successor as general manager, with franchise legend Mats Sundin joining him as a senior executive advisor. During that time, they’ve faced questions about star center Auston Matthews‘ willingness to remain long-term, moved up four spots in the draft lottery to win this year’s first overall pick, and have embarked on the franchise’s second head coach search in the last three years. To say it’s been a busy few weeks for a Leafs squad in desperate need of an on-the-fly retool is an understatement, and they’ll now continue to navigate the process without one of the most well-regarded names in their organization over the past several years.
Pridham first joined the Leafs in 2014 as a special assistant to then-GM Dave Nonis. He’s since held pivotal roles in Lou Lamoriello’s, Kyle Dubas’ and Treliving’s tenures in Toronto’s front office as something of a salary cap specialist, helping the team navigate a boatload of big-money contracts doled out to Matthews, William Nylander and John Tavares, among others. He was promoted to a full-time assistant GM under Dubas in 2018 and served as co-interim GM with fellow AGM Ryan Hardy, who remains with the organization for now, after Treliving was fired with a couple of weeks left in the regular season.
“Brandon has played an integral role in the organization over the past 12 seasons,” Chayka said in a team-issued statement. “We are sincerely appreciative of Brandon’s professionalism, commitment and dedication to the Maple Leafs throughout his tenure.”
Clancey was a Treliving hire, spending the last three seasons as Treliving’s primary player personnel assistant after previously working under him in Calgary as a pro scout in 2021-22. A decorated minor-league coach before embarking on a lengthy and successful NHL scouting career, he was part of the Penguins’ Stanley Cup championships in 2009, 2016, and 2017 before departing the organization five years ago. Since then, he’s had the aforementioned brief stop in Calgary, plus one year as an AGM in Vancouver (2022-23), before he eventually joined the Leafs.
Even with the departures, Chayka and Sundin still have three AGMs to rely on in a pivotal offseason. Pridham and Clancey were the two highest-ranking ones, though, so it would be surprising not to see them make at least one corresponding hire. Hardy remains in his post as the Leafs’ minor-league operations leader, while Dr. Hayley Wickenheiser (player development) and Darryl Metcalf (hockey research and development) are still on staff as well.
Toronto Maple Leafs Part Ways With Head Coach Craig Berube
In a significant move to kick off a hopeful, transformative offseason, Toronto Maple Leafs General Manager John Chayka announced today that the club has parted ways with head coach Craig Berube. The decision comes as Chayka and the Toronto front office look to pivot following a 2025-26 campaign that fell short of the organization’s high expectations.
“Craig is a tremendous coach and an even better person,” Chayka said in the team’s official release. “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.”
Despite Chayka’s framing of the move as an “organizational shift,” the results on the ice were difficult to ignore. After a strong first year, the Maple Leafs struggled with consistency during the 2025-26 season, ultimately missing the postseason for the first time in a decade. Berube, who was hired in 2024 to bring a rugged, playoff-ready identity to the roster, leaves Toronto with an 84-62-18 record.
With the first overall pick in the 2026 NHL Draft already secured, Chayka now has the opportunity to pair a generational prospect with a head coach of his own choosing. The coaching market remains robust, with several veteran options and high-upside AHL candidates available to steer a roster still led by Auston Matthews and William Nylander.
By acting early in the offseason, the Maple Leafs ensure they can secure their top target before the draft and free agency. For a club entering a pivotal summer, this “fresh start” behind the bench marks the official beginning of the Chayka era in Toronto.
Berube, who led the St. Louis Blues to a Stanley Cup in 2019, departs Toronto with two years remaining on his contract. He instantly becomes one of the most experienced options on the coaching market for other clubs seeking veteran leadership.
Latest On Morgan Rielly
As the offseason approaches, much of the discussion surrounding the Toronto Maple Leafs focuses on the future of Auston Matthews with the organization, as well as what Toronto plans to do with the first overall pick in the 2026 NHL Draft. However, speaking on First Up with Carlo Colaiacovo and Aaron Korolnek, TSN’s Darren Dreger shared that the Maple Leafs are expected to approach defenseman Morgan Rielly about waiving his no-movement clause this summer.
It’s a similar sentiment to what happened between Rielly and the Maple Leafs last offseason. Operating as the team’s top defenseman, Rielly dropped from 58 points in 72 games during the 2023-24 campaign to 41 points in 82 games in 2024-25, while also seeing his average ice time diminish by a few minutes. Still, Rielly wanted one more season to improve his game and prove that he could be what Toronto needed him to be.
Unfortunately, that’s not how it worked out. Although his goal-scoring production improved, Rielly’s point totals dropped to 36 across 78 games, and he averaged his lowest ice time since the 2014-15 campaign. Additionally, his 48.2% CorsiFor at even strength and 88.2% on-ice SV% at even strength were the lowest totals of his career. According to MoneyPuck, of the 148 defensemen who played over 1000 minutes at even strength during the 2025-26 season, Rielly ranked 107th in On-Ice Goals Percentage.
Clearly, that production isn’t sustainable, especially if the Maple Leafs want Rielly to be their top option from the blue line. However, Dreger asserted that this was a plan put in place by the Brad Treliving regime, and the hiring of John Chayka and Mats Sundin made the situation much cloudier.
Rielly’s agent, J.P. Barry, represented Sundin toward the later stages of his career. He assisted Sundin in staying with the Maple Leafs at the 2008 trade deadline, despite significant speculation, and facilitated the franchise’s scoring leader’s departure to Vancouver the following offseason. Given the connection between Rielly and Sundin, Dreger speculated that Sundin could force the situation and give Rielly another year in Toronto to see if a new staff can work through his issues.
Still, even if the new front office regime decides to pull the plug on Rielly’s tenure with the organization, they aren’t in the best negotiating position. Rielly is coming off back-to-back disappointing campaigns and will have four years and $22MM left on his contract heading into next season. Unlikely to recoup a solid return package, the Maple Leafs will have to decide if ripping the band-aid off is preferable to holding out for a better return that may never come.
Shane Doan, Maple Leafs Mutually Part Ways
The Toronto Maple Leafs have mutually parted ways with special assistant Shane Doan per Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic. Doan’s contract in Toronto was set to expire on June 30. He was originally hired by former Maple Leafs general manager Brad Treliving in 2023 and will step away before he has a chance to work alongside new general manager John Chayka.
Chayka took over the Arizona Coyotes general manager role in 2016, at the record-setting age of 26. Doan was the team’s star, having spent the last 12 seasons as the Coyotes’ captain. He was 40 years old entering the 2016-17 season and had lost the spark of his previous peak. That was proved when Doan only managed 27 points in 74 games – a mark that was deemed too low to re-sign him through his 40s despite Doan’s desire to keep playing, per ESPN. Arizona sought a trade through the season but, when no offers came through, Doan made the decision to retire in 2017.
Doan was hired as Arizona’s Director of Hockey Administration in 2020. He continued on in that role until the Coyotes were relocated to Utah following the 2022-23 season. The Coyotes’ move opened the door for Doan to grow his roots in NHL front offices. He moved into a Maple Leafs advisory role left vacant when Jason Spezza joined Kyle Dubas in a move to the Pittsburgh Penguins. Spezza has since taken on an assistant general manager and AHL general manager role with the Penguins.
Those could be the roles next in line for Doan, who will now be a managerial free agent amid a lot of change in NHL front offices. He could find a chance to move back to the NHL’s Pacific Division with vacancies in the Seattle Kraken or Vancouver Canucks front offices. Doan also played five seasons with current Philadelphia Flyers general manager Daniel Briere and could bring invaluable experience as Philadelphia looks to repeat their playoff berth this season.
Maple Leafs Assign Ben Danford To AHL
The Toronto Maple Leafs are bringing one of their top prospects to the professional ranks. According to an announcement from their AHL affiliate, the Toronto Marlies, the Maple Leafs have assigned defenseman Ben Danford to the AHL for the Calder Cup playoffs.
Despite having one of the worst prospect pools in the NHL, Danford is generally regarded as Toronto’s top prospect, especially since Easton Cowan became a full-time NHL player this season. The Maple Leafs selected Danford 31st overall in the 2024 NHL Draft.
Since then, the 20-year-old native of Madoc, Ontario, has been playing for the OHL’s Oshawa Generals and Brantford Bulldogs. Still, his development path hasn’t necessarily gone as the Maple Leafs may have liked. After registering 33 points with a +27 rating in 63 games with the Generals during his draft season, Danford dropped to 25 points and a +5 rating through 61 contests the following season.
It is important to highlight that Oshawa has gotten worse around Danford over the past few seasons. After being traded to the Bulldogs during the 2025-26 campaign, Danford improved his game, scoring two goals and accumulating 16 points in 37 games, along with a +12 rating. Furthermore, he added three more points in 13 postseason games during the OHL playoffs.
Although his offensive output decreased, Danford has remained a quality player on the defensive side of the puck. He’s rarely caught out of position and holds tight gaps, giving opposing forwards little room to get around him.
Unfortunately, if he draws into the postseason lineup for the Marlies, things aren’t going to get any easier for Danford in the short term. Toronto is coming off a hard-fought battle against the AHL’s Laval Rocket and has drawn a date against the Cleveland Monsters, a team that made it to the Eastern Conference Final last season.
Latest On Auston Matthews
After jumping into the second overall selection from last week’s draft lottery, the San Jose Sharks may capitalize on their luck by entertaining trade offers, outlined by The Fourth Period this morning.
With Toronto winning big last Tuesday, dominating many of the headlines, somewhat cast aside was the Sharks moving up seven spots to #2. Picking in the top five in each of the last three years, including second overall last summer (Michael Misa), the difference now is San Jose hardly needs another young forward in their pipeline, suddenly in win-now mode and past rebuild status. With Ivar Stenberg the clear cut second best player overall, defensemen such as Chase Reid and Keaton Verhoeff could be more attractive based on needs, but a reach at second overall from a value perspective.
2026 draftees aside, the Sharks netted an asset which would land a haul of NHL-ready talent, especially on the back-end, from any team looking to move up and select Stenberg. Known to be seeking upgrades on the blueline this summer, there’s perhaps no better trade chip than the one they hadn’t even expected to be holding today. As mentioned in the article above, GM Mike Grier also shopped his top pick last year, not ending up dealing it. If that proves to be the case again, rivals may be forced to prepare to deal with Stenberg, as part of a downright scary forward group in years to come.
Elsewhere across the league:
- In Friday’s episode of the 32 Thoughts Podcast, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet speculated that Auston Matthews may wait until later in the summer to decide on his future, but from Toronto’s behalf, they simply can’t wait that long to get “an idea”. Last week it was apparent that the new John Chayka regime had work to do to impress Matthews and ease his concerns on the team’s contention chances in the future. Winning the 2026 draft’s top selection is as good of a start as they could have hoped, but as Friedman notes, there’s still plenty more to be done with trades and free agency. Signed for two more years at $13.25MM, Matthews’ supposed “decision” is an entirely other conversation, as to what could even happen if things were to go awry. Regardless, it’s a major headline going into the off-season, and any moves Chayka will make will have Matthews’ interests in mind.
- Calgary Flames forward Adam Klapka was a final cut from Team Czechia at the 2026 IIHF World Championships. The 25-year-old was a member of last spring’s team, where he recorded three points in five games. Coming up short of the Olympic team in February, a result of his lack of special teams ability, it was likely the same case for today’s ruling. At 6’8”, the winger was brute force in his first full NHL season, racking up 112 penalty minutes and finishing fourth in the league with 295 hits. The righty chipped in offensively from the fourth line as well, tallying 18 points across his 79 games. Signed through next season, he’ll utilize the offseason to rest up from a long campaign where he more than doubled NHL appearances.
Topi Niemela Signs With IF Bjorkloven
Defenseman Topi Niemela will continue his career in Sweden. The 24 year old has signed with IF Bjorkloven who recently earned promotion to the SHL. Niemela moved to Sweden on a one-year deal with the Malmo Redhawks last summer. The deal marked a return to Europe for the former top Finnish defense prospect. Niemela’s NHL rights are held by the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Niemela scored four goals and 18 points in 52 games with Malmo. He ranked second on the team’s blue-line in scoring – 21 points behind former New York Islanders prospect Robin Salo in the lead. Niemela fell short of his AHL scoring in his move overseas. He had a promising break into the Toronto Marlies roster in 2023-24, finishing the year with 39 points in 68 games and a solid lineup role. He hit a dip in his attempts to follow it up, scoring just 22 points in 61 games of the 2024-25 season.
After failing to find an offensive boost in the SHL, Niemela will test his talents in a bigger role with Bjorkloven. He shined as an effective puck-mover through a four-season stint in Finland’s Liiga, prior to his first AHL season. Niemela reached 32 points in 48 games of the 2021-22 season, two years after Toronto landed him with the 64th-overall pick in the 2020 NHL Draft. He fell back to 18 points in 58 games of the 2022-23 season, preluding a move to the Marlies lineup. Niemela would need a big performance to pop back up on the Maple Leafs’ radar, though a strong year in the SHL could be a promising start.
Leafs’ John Chayka To Meet With Auston Matthews, Craig Berube
The Toronto Maple Leafs have opened the doors to a new age after hiring John Chayka as general manager and Mats Sundin as a senior advisor. First order of business for the new staff will be finding how they want to define Toronto’s short-term goals – a task helped along by the club’s win at the 2026 NHL Draft lottery. With the top pick in hand, Chayka is now turning his attention towards meeting with the club’s most influential figures – head coach Craig Berube and franchise star Auston Matthews – in the near-future, per Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic on Thursday’s episode of TSN Overdrive.
There are conflicting reports of if a meeting date has been set yet, though. TSN’s Darren Dreger joined Overdrive to share that Chayka and Matthews do not have a date carved out yet, despite LeBrun’s mention of the inevitable meeting.
Whenever a meeting is held, the question to both Berube and Matthews will likely be the same: what role do you want to play in the Maple Leafs’ next few seasons? Reports have varied on Matthews’ commitment to the club that drafted him first-overall in 2016. He has already secured the franchise record with 428 career goals, passing Sundin’s 420 career goals earlier this season. Matthews also ranks fourth on the club with 780 career points. He has delivered a true star to the Toronto area, though the Maple Leafs weren’t able to turn that asset into postseason success, even with the support of Mitch Marner, William Nylander, and John Tavares.
Through nine consecutive postseason appearances between 2017 and 2025, Matthews has been the one under the microscope – especially after picking up the team’s captaincy in 2024. His game has faced scrutiny at every level – criticisms that are hard to curb as Matthews attempts to recover from an MCL tear sustained in March of this season. That injury contributed to Matthews only potting 53 points in 60 games this season, his first under a point-per-game since his rookie season in 2016-17.
With two seasons left on a four-year, $53MM contract signed in 2023, Matthews will have to answer the question of if he can handle the heat. The postseason will remain Toronto’s primary goal for as long as Matthews, Nylander, and Tavares are headlining the offense. If those runs will include Berube is yet to be seen, after the Stanley Cup-winning head coach failed to lead the Maple Leafs to the playoffs in his second season with the club. Berube led Toronto to 52 wins last season. He has made the postseason in five of his nine years manning an NHL bench, excluding his mid-season firing from the 2023-24 St. Louis Blues.
Should Matthews want to explore greener pastures, or Chayka decide to move on from Berube, the Maple Leafs would again be faced with having to fill a major hole. Matthews’ departure would bump Tavares into a starring role and clear path for Gavin McKenna – or another choice at first-overall – to move into a spotlight role. Dismissing Berube would make the Maple Leafs a top candidate for coaching free agents like Bruce Cassidy, Dean Evason, Jay Woodcroft, or Gerard Gallant. More changes would only further separate the Maple Leafs from their era of short-lived playoff runs – a task Chayka will begin to face before the 2026 NHL Draft rolls around.
Photo courtesy of Nick Turchiaro-Imagn Images.
Tinus Luc Koblar Leaves Leksands IF
Toronto Maple Leafs prospect Tinus Luc Koblar will exit his club Leksands IF as a result of their relegation to Sweden’s second tier, the HockeyAllsvenskan. Koblar is a 2025 second-round pick of the club and was Toronto’s highest selection of its 2025 draft class. He was ranked as the No. 4 prospect in Toronto’s system by Scott Wheeler of The Athletic, who called Koblar a “big, strong, sturdy center who can skate.”