The NHL coaching carousel has been spinning quite heavily in recent days, and that includes the Toronto Maple Leafs finding a replacement for Sheldon Keefe. On Friday, the Maple Leafs announced that Stanley Cup champion Craig Berube would be the 32nd head coach in franchise history.
Berube, 58, began his head coaching career with the Philadelphia Flyers in 2013 and coached the team for two seasons before getting fired in 2015. Four years later, in 2019, the St. Louis Blues elevated Berube to interim head coach after Mike Yeo was fired. That year, Berube oversaw an incredible turnaround that was capped off with a Stanley Cup victory.
Berube spent five more years with the Blues, taking them to the postseason three more times from 2020-2022. Berube was fired by the Blues midway through the 2023-24 season after a 13-14-1 start. Berube left St. Louis with an overall record of 206-132-44.
Starting with Mike Babcock resigning from the Columbus Blue Jackets last September, there have been 12 NHL coaching changes in 2023-24, and several of those teams still need to figure out who will be behind the bench for the 2024-25 season.
Additionally, the Ottawa Senators and St. Louis Blues have finalized their respective head coaching decisions. The Blues agreed to a two-year contract extension with Drew Bannister, who had been the interim head coach after Berube was fired. The Senators hired former New Jersey Devils interim head coach Travis Green as their next head coach.
Three teams fired their head coaches in the middle of the season and immediately appointed a new full-time bench boss. The Edmonton Oilers made the switch from Jay Woodcroft to Kris Knoblauch, the Minnesota Wild replaced Dean Evason with John Hynes and the New York Islanders hired Patrick Roy on the heels of firing Lane Lambert.
Keep track of every NHL coaching carousel hiring and firing below.
Team | Former coach | New coach |
Buffalo Sabres | Don Granato | Lindy Ruff |
Los Angeles Kings | Todd McClellan | |
New Jersey Devils | Lindy Ruff | |
Ottawa Senators | D.J. Smith | Travis Smith |
San Jose Sharks | David Quinn | |
Seattle Kraken | Dave Hakstol | |
St. Louis Blues | Craig Berube | Drew Bannister |
Toronto Maple Leafs | Sheldon Keefe | Craig Berube |
Winnipeg Jets | Rick Bowness |
