r/leafs

I just saw the news drop that Craig Berube is out. I get it after another spring of nothing but is this a coaching problem or are we just doing the thing we always do, fire the guy, hire the next guy, get bounced in round 1 again, like genuinely who is the next hire that fixes this roster lol.

Not even being a hater, the cap situation is what it is, Mitch is who he is, the bottom 6 is the bottom 6. New coach walking in here is inheriting the same problems. I've had Auston, Mitch and Willy parlays running every spring now on Bet99 and I keep telling myself THIS is the year and every year ends the same, maybe the coach really is the problem but Im becoming increasingly convinced this team just isn't built for playoff hockey no matter who's behind the bench. Who do you want as the next coach?

1. Hire Bruce Cassidy - don't see any other coaching candidate that's better than Butch
2. Draft Mckenna & hope to hit on depth picks
3. Formulate a top down organizational approach on how you want to construct this roster. Chayka, Sundin, AGM's, Head Coach, core/star players should all have some level of input
4. CRITICAL [22 mill in cap space with Robertson, Maccelli as notable RFA's] - shore up defense. Sign Rasmus Andersson, Darren Raddysh, John Carlson (2 Yr deal high AAV) or Ferraro (depth D) - whichever player(s) they think is most likely to have the highest impact with our current roster
5. Figure out your options for 2/3 C. FA options - Dickinson, Laughton, Jenner, Malkin (heh), Kopitar (heh)
6. Kick the tires on the trade market if you can't get Raddysh, Andersson, Ferraro, Carlson - you NEED a puck moving RHD
7. Hope Tanev, Matthews come back fully healthy to start the season. Going to die on the hill that Tanev is super important to this roster just because the depth chart falls off a cliff if he's out
8. Hope Cowan, Mckenna, Knies use this offseason to improve their games
9. Hope Rielly has a bounce back year
10. Hope Tavares can keep up his production turning 37

If they can't hit on the (thin) FA market, it's going to be hard to sell a cup contending team to Matthews. They need to hit on all of their FA's because internally they don't have much coming up the pipeline and their draft capital is lacking as trade ammo.

Recently read a report saying “if you’re looking to win in 2 or 3 years he’s your guy” also unearthed some quotes from him saying he’d love to coach in a Canadian market as it’s been so long since one has won. I’ve also heard he’s a prick (might be good for a culture shock) but he loses the room quick (hence 2-3 years). No doubting his coaching abilities though. Thoughts ?

The title of this post is something I see on social media, hear on the radio, hear on TV, and hear at the table, arguing with family and friends who listen to those takes and assume the Leafs have gone through a bunch. And with the news today, I decided to investigate:

PLEASE LET THIS NARRATIVE DIE!!

EDIT - sorry for the title post, didn't mean to be misleading. It led into the body of the post, that was why I did it that way. My bad!!!

https://preview.redd.it/43yn1bm6ax0h1.png?width=2160&format=png&auto=webp&s=accd78c9c6130323485960af37320f2bf19af788

"I would believe if there wasn't some people pulling for Craig Berube inside the Maple Leafs organization, Chayka would probably lean towards getting rid of him." - Nick Kypreos

Captain during arguably the most difficult time to be in that role, played 400+ games here over 7 years and was a fairly controversial figure at the time.

How do you look back on Phaneuf and what is his legacy in Toronto?