Maple Leafs Next Coach Odds: Who’s Next?
Leafs Seek New Coach Hoping To Get Over the Hump

Arguably the most highly coveted job in hockey is available. The Toronto Maple Leafs’ next coach odds are open with several notable names atop the board. The position is the most scrutinized in Canada, even more than that of the Prime Minister. It is vacant after Sheldon Keefe was fired on May 9.
Whoever is chosen as the 41st coach in team history will carry the weight of Toronto’s 57-year championship drought. This was too much for Keefe and the previous 21 coaches to overcome.
But there are plenty of candidates, including Stanley Cup winners and Jack Adams Award recipients.
The Favorites
Despite having among the shortest odds to win the Stanley Cup over the past eight seasons, the Maple Leafs have only won one playoff round since 2004. But the favorite to lead the Maple Leafs bench is no stranger to playoff success.
Craig Berube, a hard-nosed center who played 40 of his 1,054 NHL games in a Maple Leafs uniform, is the favorite at +100. Yet, perhaps driving his candidacy in Toronto even more is how Berube already guided a club in a championship-starved market to the Promised Land.
Berube took over for Mike Yeo in 2018 and turned around the talented yet snakebitten St. Louis Blues, aiding the organization’s first championship in 2019. St. Louis fired Berube after 28 games last season. But he remains the hottest coaching candidate and will have his pick of several coaching spots.
One would have to think Berube would love the challenge of coaching the likes of Auston Matthews, William Nylander, and whoever else is in a Maple Leafs sweater next year through the NHL schedule and playoffs. Still, if Berube passes on Toronto other bona fides could guide Toronto.
Todd McLellan, who has the second-shortest odds at +200 and was fired by the Los Angeles Kings in February, has coached 88 playoff games. He has experience in a fishbowl-style Canadian market when he led the Edmonton Oilers from 2015-18.
Unlike Berube, McLellan doesn’t have his name on the Stanley Cup as a head coach — though he was an assistant coach with the Detroit Red Wings when they won in 2008 — and hasn’t advanced beyond the second round since 2011. Still, he did coach Canada to gold at the 2015 IIHF World Championship.
Intriguing, Experienced Longshots
Berube and McLellan are the favorites, followed by fellow unemployed playoff regulars Gerard Gallant, Bruce Boudreau, and Jay Woodcroft. But following them are a few fascinating options.
Despite his ongoing suspension from the NHL due to inaction during the Kyle Beach scandal with the Chicago Blackhawks in 2010, Joel Quenneville is interested in repairing his image and coaching in the NHL again.
If the NHL reinstated him, Quenneville would be the top candidate for almost every job. He won three Stanley Cup titles and is No. 2 on the league’s all-time coaching wins list behind only Scotty Bowman with 969. Quenneville is also an Ontario native, hailing from Windsor near Detroit.
Still, Quenneville would have to be reinstated by the league, which may not happen. That’s why he has the sixth-shortest Leafs next coach odds +1200 odds.
Following Quenneville is Guy Boucher, Darryl Sutter and Rod Brind’Amour at +1400. Brind’Amour is another fascinating candidate, though his potential in Toronto grows more tenuous by the day.
Brind’Amour, the Hurricanes coach for the past six seasons, also won the Stanley Cup in Carolina as a player in 2006. He doesn’t have a contract beyond this year. If Carolina falls short of the Stanley Cup Final for the 18th straight season, Brind’Amour may not return.
Like Quenneville, if Brind’Amour were on the open market, he’d be one of the top coaching candidates for every team with a vacancy. Carolina is routinely one of the top possession teams. It has the second-best points percentage (.664) and is tied for fourth-most playoff games (73) since Brind’Amour took over in 2018.
Plus, also like Quenneville, Brind’Amour is an Ontario native.
Potential First-Timers
Keefe was a first-time coach. It seems hard to believe Brendan Shanahan and Brad Treliving would trust what could be their final coaching search to a neophyte.
Still, Jay Pandolfo is having a moment while coaching behind the bench at Boston University. Pandolfo was a teammate of Shanahan’s with the New Jersey Devils. He has been a Boston Bruins assistant coach and has guided the Terriers to the Frozen Four in his two seasons behind the bench.
Pandolfo is going off at +2800, which are fascinating odds. Jay Leach, an assistant for the San Jose Sharks, is a hot candidate. He is a likelier option for Toronto at +1600. So too is fellow Sharks assistant and former NHL defenseman Ryan Warsofsky, who is at +2000.
Other Options
The Oilers relieved Jay Woodcroft this season. But he has experience coaching generational talents like Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl. Woodcroft is a Toronto native, though he has been tied to the New Jersey Devils’ potential coaching vacancy.
Bruce Boudreau has 617 wins in 1,087 career NHL games (.567 win percentage). He played almost his entire NHL career with the Maple Leafs. Like Woodcroft, he’s from Toronto and has coached generational talents like Alex Ovechkin. But he’s also never reached the Stanley Cup Final.
Gerard Gallant has reached the Final as coach of the Vegas Golden Knights in 2018. He has posted 90-plus-point seasons in each of his past eight years coaching behind an NHL bench. But Gallant, whose odds are third-shortest at +700, may not jive with Toronto’s analytics-based front office. He was fired by the Rangers last spring due to a reported rift with analytics-minded general manager Chris Drury.
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