Speculation: Berube the next Leafs coach?

[TheDoldrums]

In a Bruce Garrioch column from yesterday, he wrote "There's a lot of talk among league executives that Berube is the top candidate in Toronto if the Leafs make an early exit."

Obviously whatever exactly an "early exit" means, it's not unlikely given the playoff path. Most GM's like to pick their own coach as well. Feels like a plausible scenario.

Click to read more...

 

[TMLAM34]

Would love this.

 

[ACC1224]

That’s one way to get your article some attention

 

[HamiltonNHL]

Leafs need a change.

It’s basically fact at this stage.

The coach is the piece that is easily changed.

 

[Menzinger]

Keefe is Tres man until the team says otherwise. And Tre didn't go out of his way to give Keefe a multi year extension if he had serious concerns about Keefe's future with the team

 

[Eternal Leaf]

Should have changed the coach years ago.

Whether it's Berube or someone else doesn't matter. Imagine a team like Vegas tolerating the number of failures Keefe has put together.

 

[Maple Leaf]

Should have changed the coach years ago.

Whether it's Berube or someone else doesn't matter. Imagine a team like Vegas tolerating the number of failures Keefe has put together.

Keefe has no playoff experience
how is he still here

 

[Rare Jewel]

Poor Boucher...

Anyway, Berube is the standout candidate who is available. However, there are other options that they likely won't choose that I'd be curious about.

 

[hamzarocks]

Keefe is Tres man until the team says otherwise. And Tre didn't go out of his way to give Keefe a multi year extension if he had serious concerns about Keefe's future with the team

I'd say Treliving is Shanahan's man amd so is keefe

Shanahan wants them both here and has for some reason high job security and power. He can probably survive a keefe firing but dont see him surving another GM

 

[thewave]

Leafs need a change.

It’s basically fact at this stage.

The coach is the piece that is easily changed.

If Shanahan can't identify how bad Keefe is as a coach, nobody can or will convince MLSE to remove Keefe.

 

[Larcos_Unal]

Nah they won't hire Berube, they'll waste the rest of Matthews, Marner, Nylander & Rielly's primes by hiring the next hotshit AHL coach so he can learn on the job.

 

[Hellcat]

This is the type of coach Tre likes. I see a rotating cast of hard asses then softies. I'd say Keefe is a softie, my bet is on a hard ass as the next coach. They need a coach who has attention to detail, holds players accountable, is a good teacher of the fundamentals and is good at the match up game. I think Keefe failed in the sense that he does not hold players accountable with ice time as a reward. He is not good a line matching, has little concept of the sense that each players has a defensive quadrant, teaching those players that their role is to defend when they dont have the puck. Maybe he is trying to do all of that but the players either do not understand or they dont think he will hold them accountable.

1. Bob Hartley – was already in Calgary, worked with Treliving for two years. Won a round in the first year, missed the playoffs in the second. That's when Treliving let him go.
2. Glen Gulutzan – Treliving's first true coaching hire lasted two seasons as well where the Flames lost in the first round and missed the playoffs.
3. Bill Peters – One and a half years from 2019 to 2020. You know why he left. .
4. Geoff Ward and Ryan Huska – Finished out the 2020-21 season and started the 2021-22 with Ward named the head coach.
5. Darryl Sutter – hired after Ward was fired midseason. Coached three years in Calgary and was fired by the new management following Treliving's departure. The Flames made the playoffs once and won one round in his tenure.

 

[HamiltonNHL]

The Vancouver coaching change worked.

We gotta try something

 

[Niagara Bill]

Please no. He caught lightning in a bottle, then destroyed team.

 

[Hellcat]

I'd say Treliving is Shanahan's man amd so is keefe

Shanahan wants them both here and has for some reason high job security and power. He can probably survive a keefe firing but dont see him surving another GM

Not sure Tre has the ability to assess what is good or bad, he has a horrid record in Calgary as an assessor of talent, be it assessing players or coaches, five years from now, if I look back and this season is not the beginning of the decline for this franchise, I would be floored.

Keep in mind Tre -

• Traded for and traded away Dougie Hamilton, whom he couldn't convince to sign.
• Drafted and traded away Adam Fox, whom he couldn't convince to sign.
• Drafted and traded away Matthew Tkachuk, whom he couldn't convince to sign.
• Signed Huberdeau 8 x $10.5 million
• Signed Nazem Kadri (7 x 7 in 2022),
• Signed Jacob Markstrom (6 x 6 in 2020),
• Signed James Neal (5 x 5.75 in 2018),
• Signed Blake Coleman (6 x 4.9 in 2021),
• Signed Chris Tanev (4 x 4.5 in 2020),
• Signed Troy Brouwer (4 x 4.5 in 2016),
• Signed Michael Frolik (5 x 4.3 in 2015).
• Calgary won two rounds in the nine years under Treliving.
• Treliving spent seven years as the Assistant GM with the Coyotes. The Coyotes made the playoffs three times in his tenure, winning two playoff series in that time

A lot of head scratching moves,

 

[darrylsittler27]

I doubt its true.Most (99 per cent of rumours) never happen. The first is gone people. Nick Kyproes smearing egg on his own face again.

 

[Rare Jewel]

Please no. He caught lightning in a bottle, then destroyed team.

I think the cycle for that group was over. Maybe he didn't handle it well because he's a competitive guy

 

[Hellcat]

Please no. He caught lightning in a bottle, then destroyed team.

I've been kinda wondering the same thing, was he just lucky?

 

[Rare Jewel]

A lot of head scratching moves,

You could consider it a head-scratching appointment, but change was/is still needed.

 

[darrylsittler27]

Not sure Tre has the ability to assess what is good or bad, he has a horrid record in Calgary as an assessor of talent, be it assessing players or coaches, five years from now, if I look back and this season is not the beginning of the decline for this franchise, I would be floored.

Keep in mind Tre -

• Traded for and traded away Dougie Hamilton, whom he couldn't convince to sign.
• Drafted and traded away Adam Fox, whom he couldn't convince to sign.
• Drafted and traded away Matthew Tkachuk, whom he couldn't convince to sign.
• Signed Huberdeau 8 x $10.5 million
• Signed Nazem Kadri (7 x 7 in 2022),
• Signed Jacob Markstrom (6 x 6 in 2020),
• Signed James Neal (5 x 5.75 in 2018),
• Signed Blake Coleman (6 x 4.9 in 2021),
• Signed Chris Tanev (4 x 4.5 in 2020),
• Signed Troy Brouwer (4 x 4.5 in 2016),
• Signed Michael Frolik (5 x 4.3 in 2015).
• Calgary won two rounds in the nine years under Treliving.
• Treliving spent seven years as the Assistant GM with the Coyotes. The Coyotes made the playoffs three times in his tenure, winning two playoff series in that time

A lot of head scratching moves,

Right now its hard to criticize Tre. Calgary is a different game. No one wants to play in Calgary. Tre was not thrown into a good situation. We need to reflect on how truly bad Dumbass was and how he left nothing for the next guy in a total scorched Earth policy. Never has a GM done so much to accomplish squat.

 

[Hellcat]

Right now its hard to criticize Tre. Calgary is a different game. No one wants to play in Calgary. Tre was not thrown into a good situation. We need to reflect on how truly bad Dumbass was and how he left nothing for the next guy in a total scorched Earth policy. Never has a GM done so much to accomplish squat.

After drafting guys like Fox, Tkachuk, His recent drafts in Calgary have been pretty unimpressive, this is on him, he relies on his scouts and he is the guy who hires the guy who hires the scouts.

Quoted from Analyzing Brad Treliving's Draft History | PPP Leafs

2018​

• Round 4 - 105th OA: Martin Pospisil
• Round 4 - 108th OA: Demetrios Koumontzis
• Round 4 - 122nd OA: Milos Roman
• Round 6 - 167th OA: Emilio Pettersen
• Round 7 - 198th OA: Dmitry Zavgorodniy

Not a lot to write home about. They had no picks until the 4th round, and only two of these players seem to still be around on their AHL team. Martin Pospisil and Emilio Pettersen have both been around or a bit better than a 0.5 points per game. But at their ages, the odds that they might become something in the NHL is pretty low at this point.

2019​

• Round 1 - 26th OA: Jakob Pelletier
• Round 3 - 88th OA: Ilya Nikolaev
• Round 4 - 116th OA: Lucas Feuk
• Round 5 - 150th OA: Josh Nodler
• Round 7 - 214th OA: Dustin Wolf

We're getting to drafts where they're not quite old enough to write off, but they do have two prospects here who look like they could be something good – they just haven't been given a chance yet. Pelletier has been a star in the QMJHL, for Team Canada at the World Juniors, and for Calgary's AHL team. So far he's only gotten into 24 games for Calgary and had something of a notorious cold shoulder from Sutter.

The other is Dustin Wolf, a smaller goalie who has done nothing but dominate everywhere he's played. He's won Goalie of the Year awards in the WHL and AHL, and won a gold medal at the World Juniors as Team USA's second string goalie. His worst season in the WHL was his rookie year as a backup, where he had a .928 sv% in 20 games. His worst season in the AHL was his first full season as a rookie, when he had a .924 sv% in 47 games as their main goalie.

Both Pelletier and Wolf seem like they could still be stars, and from the sounds of things one of the reasons why Sutter was fired was to get a coach that will give these two a real chance in the NHL next year.

The other three picks in this year's draft don't seem to have any indication that there's something there. But getting two potential impact players, including one from the seventh round, is a good draft.

2020​

• Round 1 - 24th OA: Connor Zary
• Round 2 - 50th OA: Yan Kuznetsov
• Round 3 - 72nd OA: Jeremie Poirier
• Round 3 - 80th OA: Jake Boltmann
• Round 4 - 96th OA: Daniil Chechelev
• Round 5 - 143rd OA: Ryan Francis
• Round 6 - 174th OA: Rory Kerins
• Round 7 - 205th OA: Ilya Solovyov

This is a draft with a lot of picks, and none so far have played in any NHL games. But a lot of them turned pro going into this season. Connor Zary had 58 points in 72 games as a 21 year old, and has the look of a decent middle six center.

Yan Kuznetsov was a guy I wrote about in my first year writing about the draft, as a potential hidden gem. He had a decent rookie year in the AHL for Calgary, as a two way defenseman.

Jeremie Poirier was William Villeneuve's partner in crime in Saint John and a high octane, skilled offensive defenseman. In his rookie AHL season he had 57 points in 67 games as a 20 year old defenseman, he seems like he could be a PP quarterback for Calgary in the next year or two.

Ryan Francis and Rory Kerins as two later round swings are long shot maybes, having to play in the ECHL since their AHL team was so stacked. They were two of their team's better players as 20 year olds. For the rest, Calgary will be waiting for them to finish their NCAA careers or coming over from Europe – assuming they ever do. So a whole lot of interesting looking maybes, but that's it for now.

2021​

• Round 1 - 13th OA: Matt Coronato
• Round 2 - 45th OA: William Strömgren
• Round 3 - 77th OA: Cole Huckins
• Round 3 - 89th OA: Cameron Whynot
• Round 5 - 141st OA: Cole Jordan
• Round 6 - 168th OA: Jack Beck
• Round 6 - 173rd OA: Lucas Ciona
• Round 7 - 205th OA: Arseni Sergeev

This is another draft with some maybes, but no NHLers yet. In fact, only one of them has even gone pro yet. Matt Coronato has been a top prospect from his time with the Chicago Steel, then one of Harvard's best players in two years in the NCAA, and always one of Team USA's best players at the Hlinka, World U18s, World Juniors, and most recently the World Men's Championship this spring. At the end of this season he signed an ELC, and he's still just 20 years old. There's a good chance he's immediately an NHLer for Calgary next season.

The big whiff, if there is one, is William Strömgren at 45. It was a pretty deep second round, and if I'm only counting guys who already are NHLers or I think are almost locks to be, includes Logan Stankoven, Aatu Raty, Matthew Knies, JJ Moser, and Stanislav Svozil. Strömgren was a gamble at the time, and so too was Huckins – but man I really liked Huckins and wrote about him as well. He just hasn't really developed much since being drafted.

Another guy I really liked as a depth defenseman pick for Toronto back then was Cole Jordan. He is a big, brilliant skating defensive defenseman who seemed to hint at some offensive ability at least when it came to getting the puck out of his own end. He seemed like someone who could take a big step in his development, but... well he had some bad injury luck. He has yet to play more than 40 games in any WHL season, and missed all but the first 17 games this year after suffering a season ending injury back in the fall. As a 5th round swing I still really like that pick.

Another later pick that looks like it could turn into something is Lucas Ciona in the sixth round. He's on the powerhouse Seattle Thunderbirds in the WHL, and has improved his point production over the last three years from 13, to 35, to 75 this season. He's still a long shot but the way he's developing he has a chance to turn into some nice depth.

2022​

• Round 2 - 59th OA: Topi Rönni
• Round 5 - 155th OA: Parker Bell
• Round 7 - 219th OA: Cade Littler

 

[Niagara Bill]

You could consider it a head-scratching appointment, but change was/is still needed.

True, but pedigree is not there. By the way, has Treliving made good coaching choices? Hmmm

 

[Nylanderthal]

If Shanahan can't identify how bad Keefe is as a coach, nobody can or will convince MLSE to remove Keefe.

Random posters on a third tier messaging board > professionals who work directly with said individual seeing their day to day habits and routines first hand and understanding the shortcomings of the organization and what role that person played in it occurring.

 

[Rare Jewel]

Random posters on a third tier messaging board

Well, if it's good enough for your time...

 

[PROUD PAPA]

Berube might be alright. Doesn't excite me like he does some people but if it signals an acceptance that the team needs serious changes then bring it on.