Top Five Toronto Maple Leaf Coach Candidates

 

Craig Berube is out, and John Chayka and Mats Sundin now face one of the most important decisions of their early tenure in Toronto. The head coaching job with the Maple Leafs is the highest-profile vacancy in hockey, which means the candidate pool will be deep and the scrutiny on whoever gets the job will be immediate and relentless. Here are the five names worth watching most closely.

The timing of the lottery win cannot be overstated. Chayka and Sundin walked into one of the most scrutinized jobs in professional sports, were introduced at a press conference that turned hostile, and needed something to shift the narrative before their tenure had even officially begun. Then the ping pong balls fell their way.

Toronto entered the lottery with just an 8.5 percent chance of winning and walked out with the first overall pick. Gavin McKenna, the consensus top prospect in the 2026 draft class, is almost certainly headed to Toronto in June. For two men who needed a win badly and needed it immediately, it does not get much luckier than that.

The lottery result does not solve the coaching search, but it changes the context around it entirely. Whoever takes this job now inherits Matthews, a retooled roster, and a generational talent arriving in the first round. 

Bruce Cassidy 

Cassidy is the best available coach in this offseason's market and it is not particularly close. He guided the Vegas Golden Knights to a Stanley Cup in 2023, won the Jack Adams Award in 2020, and took the Boston Bruins to a Stanley Cup Final in 2019. He was part of Canada's coaching staff at the Olympics. His resume is the strongest of any candidate on this list by a significant margin.

The complication is availability. The Edmonton Oilers have already sought permission to interview Cassidy, with Vegas denying the request, at least for now. That creates urgency for Toronto. If Chayka wants Cassidy, he needs to move quickly and make a compelling case before Edmonton gets into the room. The Golden Knights will eventually grant permission, and at that point the race begins in earnest. Cassidy should be the first call Chayka makes.

Patrick Roy

Roy is a long shot, but he remains relevant enough to belong in this conversation. After an eight-year absence from the NHL, he returned to coach the New York Islanders, going 97-78-22 across three seasons before being let go. His results were respectable without being exceptional, and his tendency to generate headlines and controversy is something a franchise seeking stability might want to avoid.

That said, Roy's presence in a market like Toronto would be a genuine event. The passion, the personality, and the competitive fire that defined his playing career did not disappear behind the bench. If Chayka is looking for someone who commands a room and demands accountability from star players, Roy has demonstrated he can do both. The question is whether the noise that follows him everywhere is a price worth paying.

Jay Woodcroft

Woodcroft is currently an assistant with the Anaheim Ducks, but his head coaching track record speaks for itself. During his time behind the Edmonton bench he went 79-41-13 and oversaw a run to the Western Conference Final. He has worked with elite players in Edmonton, San Jose, and Detroit, and he understands what it takes to manage a locker room built around franchise talent.

The Toronto connection adds another layer. Woodcroft is a native of the city, and coaching the Maple Leafs would represent a homecoming of sorts. He has reportedly been in the mix for multiple head coaching openings since his dismissal in Edmonton, which suggests the league views him as a legitimate candidate rather than a one-time opportunity that has passed. For a franchise that needs a proven winner with experience handling star players, Woodcroft fits the profile cleanly.

David Carle

Carle is the most intriguing name on this list precisely because he has never coached an NHL game. What he has done is win three NCAA titles in five years at Denver and back-to-back gold medals with Team USA at the World Juniors. He is 36 years old and widely regarded as one of the most progressive, modern coaching minds in North American hockey.

He has previously been reluctant to make the jump to the NHL, insisting he would only do so when fully ready. There is an argument to be made that there is no bigger platform to be had than head coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs, and if that does not qualify as ready, nothing will. Chayka has built his reputation on analytical thinking and forward-looking organizational philosophy. Carle aligns with that vision more naturally than almost anyone else on this list. The risk is real, but so is the upside.

Manny Malhotra

Malhotra is the local option and the wildcard. He won the Calder Cup with the Abbotsford Canucks in his first season as head coach, which is not a small accomplishment. He is from the Toronto area, knows the market, and previously served as an assistant with the Maple Leafs from 2020 to 2024. During his playing career he was one of the most respected shutdown centers in the league, and that defensive identity could be exactly what a Toronto team that has struggled defensively for years needs from behind the bench.

The inexperience at the NHL level is the obvious concern, and in a market this demanding, first-time head coaches rarely get the patience required to develop on the job. But Malhotra's familiarity with the organization, combined with his early coaching success, makes him a name Chayka would be negligent to ignore entirely.

Toronto Maple Leafs | Bruce Cassidy | Patrick Roy | Jay Woodcroft | David Carle | Manny Malhotra | Maple Leafs Coach 2026 | NHL Coaching Search