Craig Berube, a Stanley Cup-winning head coach, has been fired by the Toronto Maple Leafs after just two seasons behind the bench.
Berube, who was hired as the team’s head coach in 2024 following the firing of Sheldon Keefe, was let go Wednesday after a season in which the Leafs missed the playoffs for the first time in a decade.
Newly minted general manager John Chayka said Berube “did a lot of good things here.”
Berube won the Stanley Cup with the St. Louis Blues in 2019. He was let go by the team in December 2023 after missing the playoffs in the season prior.
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During his tenure as the Leafs’ bench boss, Berube had one winning season: his first, in which the team posted a 52-26 win-loss record and advanced to the second round of the NHL playoffs.
Berube’s Leafs posted a 32-36 win-loss record in what would be his final season.
“Moving forward, we felt after reviewing the organization and spending some time in the facility and meeting with staff, we felt like this was the right decision on the path ahead,” Chayka told reporters.
“It was an organizational decision. It was not a verdict on Craig’s coaching. I think it stands for itself, and we felt that this was the right decision at this time.”
He added that the next head coach will determine the makeup of the remainder of the coaching staff.
Chayka and club legend Mats Sundin were tapped as the new executives to run the Leafs earlier this month. Sundin will serve as a hockey operations adviser.
Shortly after, the team managed to win the NHL draft lottery, and will have the right to draft top prospect Gavin McKenna with the No. 1 pick this June.
Now fire the front office they just hired as it wasn’t the coach.