- With Sheldon Keefe signing a four-year deal to become the next head coach of the Devils, his previous two-year extension with the Maple Leafs is no longer intact, Pierre LeBrun of TSN reports. As part of Toronto granting permission for him to speak with New Jersey, the Devils canceled his extension and are paying him more money annually on his new deal than he would’ve made on his extension with the Leafs. Thus, Toronto no longer owes Keefe the balance of his extension.
Maple Leafs Rumors
Afternoon Notes: Stars, Ovchinikov, ECHL
Dallas Stars head coach Pete DeBoer has designated both Roope Hintz and Jani Hakanpaa as day-to-day with injuries ahead of the Western Conference Finals, per Lia Assimakopoulous of the Dallas Morning News (Twitter link). Hintz suffered an upper-body injury during Game 4 of the Second Round, since missing Dallas’ last two games, while Hakanpaa has missed the team’s last 26 games with a lower-body injury.
Dallas managed to pull past the Colorado Avalanche in Hintz’s absence, though there’s no doubt that he’s sorely missed. Hintz has managed six points in 11 postseason appearances while commanding a strong line of Jason Robertson and Wyatt Johnston. Hintz hit the 30-goal mark for the third consecutive season this year, posting 30 goals and 65 points through 80 games. He’s emerged as a core pillar of the Stars lineup over the last three seasons, and could be a pivotal piece of Dallas’ push to the Stanley Cup Finals.
Hintz’s injury has made space for Radek Faksa, while Hakanpaa has opened a spot for Nils Lundkvist and Alexander Petrovic to compete for a role. Hintz will slot immediately into the lineup when he’s ready to return, while Hakanpaa’s status could be more up in the air after such a long absence.
Other notes from around the NHL:
- Minnesota Wild prospect Dmitry Ovchinikov has signed a one-year deal with the KHL’s Sibir Novosibirsk, per Kyle Cush,am of The Score (Twitter link). Ovchinikov has spent parts of the last three seasons with the AHL’s Toronto Marlies, though each season has been limited – totaling 12 points across 32 career games in the AHL. He’ll now return to the KHL, where he played he’s already appeared in 103 career games and scored 17 points. Ovchinikov was part of a Trade Deadline swap that sent Connor Dewar to the Toronto Maple Leafs, but stayed loaned to the Marlies for the remainder of the season.
- The ECHL has announced that Senior Vice President of Hockey Operations Joe Ernst will depart from the league at the end of the postseason. The news will end Ernst’s storied career in the ECHL, stretching across 33 of the league’s 36 years of existence. He originally served in 16 seasons as a referee before being promoted to Vice President of Hockey Operations in 2011 and to his current role in 2018. Ernst’s role in the league runs so deep that he is not only in the ECHL Hall of Fame – inducted in 2011 – but also serves on the ECHL Hall of Fame Committee. He is stepping away to take on a senior management role with Zawyer Sports and Entertainment, who own and operate four different ECHL clubs – the Jacksonville Icemen, Savannah Ghost Pirates, upcoming Tahoe Knight Monsters, and Allen Americans.
Liljegren Reportedly In Early Trade Chatter, Berube Likely To Bring Some Assistants From Blues
After being eliminated in the first round, there has been plenty of speculation about the Maple Leafs shaking up their core forwards. However, a move there almost certainly won’t be the only change this summer. To that end, David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period reports (Twitter link) that there is some early chatter that defenseman Timothy Liljegren is coming up in trade talks. The 25-year-old matched his career high in points this season with 23 despite missing 27 games while also setting new personal bests in blocks (116) and average ice time (19:20) which puts him in good shape as he reaches restricted free agency with arbitration eligibility this summer. If GM Brad Treliving doesn’t want to pay a raise that will likely push past the $2MM mark or if he’s looking to add more grit on the back end, Liljegren could be an intriguing trade target, one that should draw a lot of attention should Toronto opt to formally put him on the block.
- Still with Toronto, the Maple Leafs named Craig Berube as their new head coach yesterday, signing him to a four-year contract. Berube, of course, last worked in St. Louis and it appears that Berube won’t be the only one joining Toronto from the Blues. James Mirtle of The Athletic reports (Twitter link) that Berube will be bringing some of the staff from St. Louis with him. Steve Ott, Mike Weber, David Alexander, and Michael Babcock are the current assistants on Drew Bannister’s staff. As it is, Berube will be reunited with one of his former assistants as Mike Van Ryn was on his staff in St. Louis before being hired by Toronto last offseason.
Toronto Maple Leafs Officially Name Craig Berube Head Coach
The Toronto Maple Leafs have named Craig Berube the 41st head coach in franchise history (Twitter link). He will begin a four-year contract with the team next season, shares Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic (Twitter link). The team will hold a press conference on Tuesday to officially introduce Berube.
This news caps off a head coaching pursuit that quickly developed into a saga. The Leafs dismissed Sheldon Keefe on May 9th, following the fourth First Round exit of his five-year tenure with the team. Toronto has since engaged multiple candidates, including former Los Angeles Kings coach Todd McLellan and even acting Carolina Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour. But in the end, there was no hiding that Keefe’s dismissal was closely tied to postseason success, and so the Leafs now replace him with one of the only coaching candidates to coach a Stanley Cup winner.
Berube formed the St. Louis Blues into a powerhouse when he took over their coaching role in the 2018-19 season. The Blues managed an impressive 38-19-6 record under his guidance, after starting the year at 7-9-3. That gave St. Louis plenty of momentum for the postseason, carried on the back of then-rookie goalie Jordan Binnington and the commandeering style of Berube. Those forces were strong enough to push St. Louis through 26 playoff games – just two shy of the longest a playoff run can go – ultimately culminating in a Game 7 win over the Boston Bruins to win the first Stanley Cup in Blues franchise history. Berube has served as St. Louis head coach in the four seasons since, leading the team to postseason appearances each season between 2020 and 2022 but missing the last two playoffs.
Berube will now move to a Toronto club with much more starpower than the Blues. It seems changes are still incoming for the Leafs – with Mitch Marner a rumored trade candidate and Tyler Bertuzzi rumored to return – but there’s no doubting that the trio of Auston Matthews, William Nylander, and John Tavares has Berube excited. Berube should also be a good match for Toronto’s gritty young forwards like Matthew Knies, Connor Dewar, and Fraser Minten. Berube accrued 3,149 penalty minutes in 1,054 career games during his own playing career and carried over that hard-nosed mindset into his coaching style. At the least, his appreciation for physical, endurance-based hockey should be a welcome change in perspective as Toronto gears up for another strong playoff push next season.
Maple Leafs Closing In On Craig Berube For Head Coach Vacancy
The Maple Leafs are now “far down the road” of naming Craig Berube their next head coach, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports Friday.
Berube, who won the Stanley Cup with the Blues in 2018-19 after taking over as their interim coach midseason, was fired partway through his sixth season at the helm in mid-December. The Blues went 13-14-1 under Berube in the early stages of the season but rallied to finish 30-19-5 under Drew Bannister, whom they recently signed to a two-year deal to remain as head coach. However, they missed the playoffs for the second straight season.
In two stops behind NHL benches with the Blues and Flyers, the 55-year-old has a career regular-season record of 281-190-72 (.584) and a 27-31 (.466) record. Outside of St. Louis’ 2019 championship, he guided them to only one other series win, a 4-2 victory over the Wild in the first round in 2022.
Berube has been viewed as the favorite for Toronto’s vacancy seemingly within hours of when they fired Sheldon Keefe last week. The Leafs also reportedly interviewed former Kings bench boss Todd McLellan, and Friedman confirmed today that they also spoke to 2018 Jack Adams Award winner Gerard Gallant in the past few days.
He was also in rather advanced talks with the Senators a few weeks ago, but Ottawa ended up doling out a four-year deal for former Canucks coach and Devils interim bench boss Travis Green instead. Berube has also interviewed for the Devils’ and Jets’ openings, but they’ll now need to look elsewhere.
Friedman’s report implies that Toronto won’t be waiting around to see if the Hurricanes decide to part with Rod Brind’Amour, as suggested this morning. Brind’Amour, whose Carolina team was just eliminated in six games in the second round by the Rangers, is not signed for next season.
Berube’s main task will be helping the Leafs overcome their recent playoff scoring woes in hopes of a deep playoff run. The franchise has made the postseason in eight straight years, tied for the longest active streak in the NHL, but has only one series win, coming in 2023 over the Lightning. They averaged just 1.92 goals per game in this year’s first-round loss to the Bruins and were similarly held to 1.90 goals per game by the Panthers in the second round last season.
Maple Leafs Among Teams Monitoring Rod Brind’Amour’s Availability
After blowing a 3-1 third-period lead and being eliminated in Round 2 at the hands of the Rangers last night, there’s now an immediate focus on what the Hurricanes opt to do with pending free-agent coach Rod Brind’Amour. Among other teams, expect the Maple Leafs to delay their head coaching decision until gaining clarity into whether he’ll hit the market, reports Lance Hornby of the Toronto Sun.
The Hurricanes had offered Brind’Amour an extension earlier in the season, but a report from TSN’s Darren Dreger before the second round indicated the team rescinded it. His report seemed to spur some momentum between the two sides, as within 24 hours, Dreger issued a follow-up saying talks between Brind’Amour and Carolina ownership had advanced.
However, no deal has been made for either Brind’Amour or his assistants. Losing in such a dramatic fashion could very well influence the Canes to turn elsewhere.
Toronto, meanwhile, is on the hunt for a new head coach on the heels of a similarly familiar playoff disappointment. They fired five-year veteran Sheldon Keefe last week and have already interviewed former Blues coach Craig Berube and ex-Kings bench boss Todd McLellan for the vacancy, per Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman.
Berube is widely viewed as their preferred candidate, but they’re not the only team heavily considering him – the Jets interviewed him for their vacancy this week. If they wait too long to see if Carolina decides to part ways with Brind’Amour, Berube may not be available as a Plan B.
Outside of Toronto and Winnipeg, the Devils, Kings, Kraken and Sharks still need to fill coaching vacancies. New Jersey (link) and Seattle (link) appear to be in the final stages of their searches, while the Sharks’ cast net is a tad wider. But all three would likely have interest in Brind’Amour if he became available, especially the Devils and Kraken, who have playoff aspirations next season.
Brind’Amour has made the playoffs in all six years behind the Hurricanes bench and won the Jack Adams Award in 2021, overseeing perhaps the best possession team in the NHL over that time. However, the Hurricanes haven’t won a game past the second round in his tenure. They were swept by the Bruins (2019) and Panthers (2023) in their two Eastern Conference Finals appearances under their 2006 Stanley Cup-winning captain to date.
Overall, Brind’Amour has a 278-130-44 (.664) regular season record and a 38-35 (.521) playoff mark as Carolina’s head coach.
NHL-Affiliated Prospects Playing In 2024 Memorial Cup
The field for the 2024 Memorial Cup, the top club tournament in junior hockey, is set. The QMJHL’s Drummondville Voltigeurs, the OHL’s London Knights and the WHL’s Moose Jaw Warriors all swept their respective league championship series within the last two days to advance to the CHL championship tournament, joining the host Saginaw Spirit of the OHL.
This year marks the first Memorial Cup held in the United States since 1998, which was hosted by the WHL’s Spokane Chiefs. The Spirit will attempt to become the first U.S.-based team to win since the Chiefs in 2008, and they have a strong chance. They’re stronger than a typical host team, finishing second in the league in the regular season with a 50-16-2 record and trailing London by just two points. They were eliminated by London in six games in the Western Conference Final.
The Knights lead the way with 10 NHL-affiliated prospects on their roster, including two first-round picks in Flyers defenseman Oliver Bonk and Maple Leafs forward Easton Cowan. The latter was named the OHL playoffs MVP after leading the Knights in scoring with 10 goals, 24 assists and 34 points in just 18 games. He had 15 points in four games in their championship sweep over the Oshawa Generals.
If you’re looking for some non-Stanley Cup Playoff hockey to watch, check to see if your favorite NHL team has prospects suiting up in the tournament, which begins May 24:
Drummondville Voltigeurs (QMJHL champion)
D Mikaël Diotte (Devils, free agent signing)
RW Ethan Gauthier (Lightning, 2023, 37th overall)
RW Alexis Gendron (Flyers, 2022, 220th overall)
D Vsevolod Komarov (Sabres, 2022, 134th overall)
NHL Utah 2022 first-round pick D Maveric Lamoureux is out for the season after undergoing shoulder surgery in March.
London Knights (OHL champion)
C Denver Barkey (Flyers, 2023, 95th overall)
D Oliver Bonk (Flyers, 2023, 22nd overall)
C Easton Cowan (Maple Leafs, 2023, 28th overall)
D Jackson Edward (Bruins, 2022, 200th overall)
D Isaiah George (Islanders, 2022, 98th overall)
RW Kasper Halttunen (Sharks, 2023, 36th overall)
C Jacob Julien (Jets, 2023, 146th overall)
C Kaleb Lawrence (Kings, 2022, 215th overall)
C Max McCue (Blue Jackets, free agent signing)
C Landon Sim (Blues, 2022, 184th overall)
Moose Jaw Warriors (WHL champion)
RW Jagger Firkus (Kraken, 2022, 35th overall)
D Denton Mateychuk (Blue Jackets, 2022, 12th overall)
D Kalem Parker (Wild, 2023, 181st overall)
D Vojtech Port (Ducks, 2023, 161st overall)
LW Martin Rysavy (Blue Jackets, 2021, 197th overall)
C Matthew Savoie (Sabres, 2022, 9th overall)
C Brayden Yager (Penguins, 2023, 14th overall)
Saginaw Spirit (host)
C Owen Beck (Canadiens, 2022, 33rd overall)
LW Josh Bloom (Canucks, acquired from Sabres in 2023 trade for Riley Stillman)
D Rodwin Dionicio (Ducks, 2023, 129th overall)
D Jorian Donovan (Senators, 2022, 136th overall)
C Hunter Haight (Wild, 2022, 47th overall)
C Ethan Hay (Lightning, 2023, 211th overall)
G Nolan Lalonde (Blue Jackets, free agent signing)
C Matyas Sapovaliv (Golden Knights, 2022, 48th overall)
C Joseph Willis (Predators, 2023, 111th overall)
Maple Leafs Interested In Extending Tyler Bertuzzi
From the start of the 2020-21 NHL season, forward Tyler Bertuzzi had been generally inconsistent, due in large part to his inability to stay healthy for an entire season. Over a possible 220 regular season games, Bertuzzi was only able to suit up in 127 games with the Detroit Red Wings and Boston Bruins.
Because of this, Bertuzzi failed to secure a multi-year contract in last year’s offseason, choosing to sign a one-year, $5.5MM contract with the Toronto Maple Leafs. Even though he brought the grit that the Maple Leafs were coveting over the offseason, Bertuzzi failed to reach his expectations on the score sheet for quite some time in Toronto, scoring six goals and 21 points through his first 50 games with the organization.
Nevertheless, Bertuzzi finally picked up his offensive output towards the end of the regular season, scoring 15 goals and 22 points in his last 30 games. Seemingly enjoying his time in Toronto, it was reported only two weeks ago that Bertuzzi would be open to signing an extension with the Maple Leafs, with David Pagnotta of TheFourthPeriod now reporting that the feeling is mutual between the two parties.
With Toronto once again failing to deliver on lofty postseason expectations, there is wide belief throughout the league that major changes will be coming to the roster this summer. Although rumors have been floating around in years past about breaking up the ’Core Four’, the current speculation appears to have much more veracity than in years past.
Outside of Bertuzzi’s pending unrestricted free agency, the Maple Leafs still need to find a head coach, develop a quality defensive core, and iron out their goaltending situation. Assuming that Bertuzzi is hoping to garner a multi-year contract this summer, he may need to settle for a lower AAV than expected, unless Toronto can free up additional cap space in their expected flurry of moves this offseason.
Predators Have Shown Interest In Mitch Marner
The Maple Leafs haven’t yet given any indication of whether they’ll ask winger Mitch Marner to waive his no-move clause after another first-round playoff exit. However, that hasn’t stopped the Predators from indicating they’d be one of the teams calling if he hits the trade market, per David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period.
It would be quite a swing from Nashville general manager Barry Trotz as he enters his second offseason at the helm. The longtime coach knocked it out of the park in free agency last summer, landing first-line forwards Gustav Nyquist and Ryan O’Reilly for less than $5MM per season on two-year and four-year deals, respectively. Replacing John Hynes with Andrew Brunette behind the bench also worked out quite well – the latter is a Jack Adams Award finalist this year after guiding the Preds to a 99-point season, their most in five years.
Pagnotta recently posited a Marner for Juuse Saros swap with both star players entering the final season of their contracts, but it’s unclear whether Toronto has shown any interest in the 2022 Vezina Trophy finalist. Without any real indication that Maple Leafs GM Brad Treliving is even looking to move on from Marner, it’s impossible to tell for certain what he’d desire in return for his star playmaker.
The Leafs and Preds have been infrequent trade partners, only swapping minor-league or depth players a handful of times over the past few years. Their last major swap came near the 2015 trade deadline, with Toronto sending Cody Franson and Mike Santorelli to Nashville in exchange for Olli Jokinen, Brendan Leipsic and a 2015 first-round pick. The Leafs ended up trading down from that pick, 24th overall, which the Flyers happily used to select Travis Konecny. Then-co-interim GMs Kyle Dubas and Mark Hunter didn’t select any impact NHLers with the picks they acquired, although they did swap one of the picks acquired from Philly for a second-round choice they used to select serviceable defenseman, Travis Dermott.
Marner’s prospective trade value will be influenced by two factors: how many teams he’s willing to waive his no-move clause for (if at all) and if his camp is given permission to work on an extension with the acquiring club. He carries a $10.9MM cap hit next season as he enters the final year of the six-year, $65.4MM deal he signed weeks before the 2019-20 season got underway. Evolving Hockey projects Marner to land an eight-year extension with an $11.7MM cap hit should he sign soon after becoming eligible on July 1.
Toronto would be losing its most dynamic playmaker and one of its better penalty-killers should they move on from Marner, but they would free up considerable cap space to address their lack of puck-moving defensemen and inconsistency in goal. Any roster player they acquire in exchange for Marner is likely to cost a few million dollars less, allowing them to be more aggressive players on this summer’s free-agent market if they make a decision on trading him before the draft.
The Predators, meanwhile, would gain arguably the best player to suit up for them in franchise history outside of two years’ worth of past-his-prime Paul Kariya and 17 games’ worth of Peter Forsberg. Outside of their top line of O’Reilly, Nyquist and Filip Forsberg, center Thomas Novak was the only other Nashville forward to produce over half a point per game. Their top offensive threats are quickly aging, too, with O’Reilly and Nyquist well into their 30s. In a couple of years, a still sub-30 Marner could lead an incredibly deep core of wingers supplemented by Forsberg and top prospects Joakim Kemell and Matthew Wood.
Maple Leafs Have Interviewed Craig Berube, Todd McLellan
The Maple Leafs have interviewed former Blues coach Craig Berube and ex-Kings bench boss Todd McLellan, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman confirmed on Monday’s “32 Thoughts” podcast (audio link). Adding onto heavy speculation in recent days, it appears they’re the favorites to take over as head coach in Toronto after Sheldon Keefe was fired Thursday. Berube was interviewed when Toronto’s search began over the weekend, while McLellan’s interview was slated for today, per Friedman.
Berube has also been linked to the Devils’ and Senators’ coaching vacancies this summer, but New Jersey’s attention has ironically drifted toward Keefe, and Ottawa ended up hiring Travis Green on a four-year contract. He’d spent parts of the past six seasons coaching the Blues, including winning the 2019 Stanley Cup as their interim bench boss, before being fired after a 13-14-1 start to this season.
Outside of the 2019 run, Berube’s Blues only managed to win a playoff series on one other occasion, taking down the Wild in six games in the first round in 2022. The blame is far from being square on Berube for that, though. Their aging defense has lacked identity and consistent puck-moving prowess for the past couple of seasons, resulting in St. Louis missing the playoffs entirely in consecutive campaigns for the first time since 2010 and 2011. St. Louis ended up going with interim replacement Drew Bannister as Berube’s full-time replacement after he led them to a 30-19-5 record in the last few months of the season.
Berube has what few other available coaches on this market do – a Stanley Cup ring. Only Joel Quenneville carries that distinction among names that have been truly bandied about in this year’s carousel, and he’s still not eligible for work in the league due to his involvement in the Blackhawks’ organizational cover-up of a 2010 sexual assault incident involving former video coach Brad Aldrich. Claude Julien won with the Bruins in 2011 and isn’t technically retired, and Dan Bylsma (Penguins, 2009) is still going strong as the head coach of the Kraken’s AHL affiliate, but neither has truly had their name connected to any vacancies thus far.
He had a .597 points percentage in the regular season with St. Louis, north of McLellan’s .550 run with the Kings over the past five years. Like Berube, McLellan was sacked midseason with a 23-15-10 record, influenced by a 3-7-5 slide in January.
McLellan, despite boasting over twice as many games coached as Berube, has more muted playoff success, though. His teams haven’t advanced to a conference final since the Sharks in 2011, and he failed to get out of the first round in two playoff appearances with the Kings. He has a career 42-46 record in postseason play – perhaps his most disappointing discrepancy coming during his time in San Jose (.637 regular-season points percentage, .484 playoff win percentage).