Brad Treliving has been the general manager for approximately one year and throughout his short tenure, he inherited Sheldon Keefe as his head coach. Well, after one season of working together, in which the Toronto Maple Leafs made the playoffs but failed to get out of the first round once again, Treliving decided to let Keefe walk, and the process of looking for a coach commenced.
On Tuesday, Treliving, the front office, & the Maple Leafs introduced Craig Berube as the forty-first coach in team history, but it was a process. One that apparently involved speaking with upwards of nine candidates, but Treliving revealed the following:
Leafs fans and people alike always knew that when Treliving was hired, he would ultimately hire an individual that he wanted. Knowing Berube's pedigree and the way Treliving thinks, Berube fits the bill. Berube's mindset is different than that of the previous head coach, and the hope is that it shows with the on-ice product.
Berube is a complete 180 from what had been in place the previous five years. He will come in being honest yet blunt. He will tell it exactly how he sees it, and for some within the Maple Leafs locker room, it may be a wake-up call, but a well needed one. What is unknown at this time is what the roster will look like and how players will actually react to the new bench boss, but it may turn out to be a very exciting 2024–2025 season.
