NHL Coaching Roundup: Maple Leafs interview Berube, Keefe has interest

With five head coaching vacancies in the NHL and one who finished the season with the interim tag, buzz is heating up around the top candidates available. Craig Berube has been a popular one since he was let go by the St. Louis Blues midway through their season, while Todd McLellan and Jay Woodcroft have also popped up on a few radars since they were also dismissed mid-season.

Two of those coaches are believed to be candidates for the newest open position in Toronto after the Maple Leafs fired Sheldon Keefe last week. Berube has been debated in the Toronto market as a potential head coach of interest even before Keefe was let go, as the former Blues boss has the “tough” character aura and, of course, a Stanley Cup ring.

“Craig Berube was in Toronto on Saturday from what I understand, he interviewed with the Maple Leafs on Saturday,” Elliotte Friedman reported on Monday’s 32 Thoughts Podcast.

But if an experienced voice is what the Maple Leafs are after for their next head coach, Berube wouldn’t be the only candidate who could bring that to the table. McLellan has been the head coach in three different NHL stops over 16 years, though he hasn’t gotten past Round 2 since 2011.

“We all assume he’s interviewing (in Toronto) Monday,” Friedman said of McLellan before mentioning another veteran coach who could be of interest to the Leafs. “We’ll see if this goes any deeper, who else may get a call here. One guy I wondered about was Gerard Gallant just because he seems like a (Brad) Treliving kind of guy.”

However, Toronto isn’t the only place that was thought to have interest in potentially hiring Berube as its head coach. The New Jersey Devils, a team heavy on skill but that took a significant step back this past season to miss the playoffs, were also connected to Berube. In fact, some saw him as the favourite to land there after the Devils’ season finished.

However, as the coaching market has shifted, the Devils are also believed to be interested in a few other options, including the recently released Keefe.

“There was a time I thought Berube was going to have an offer to coach the Devils, but I’m not as certain about that now,” Friedman said. “The Devils I believe were serious about Berube, serious about Woodcroft, I’m under the impression Todd McLellan was going to get another interview with them, but I had some people saying to me this weekend that they think Sheldon Keefe is a big factor in this job and that Keefe has a legit chance at this if he wants it.”

After a run of five strong regular seasons with the Leafs, Keefe has quickly become one of the more interesting free agent coaches, despite winning just one playoff round in those years. He signed a two-year extension with the Leafs before this season began — a contract that hasn’t even kicked in yet — so while he could take his time before selecting his next stop, there are some intriguing teams seeking a coach right now who also have interest in Keefe.

“I do believe there have been a few teams, more than one, that have reached out to Toronto to ask the Leafs for permission to talk to him or gauge his interest,” Friedman said. “He is a legitimate person of interest on this year’s coaching searches.”

The other vacancy in a Canadian market is in Winnipeg, where the Jets are seeking a new head coach after Rick Bowness announced his retirement. Whoever is hired there next will be just the fifth head coach since the Jets returned to Manitoba in 2011, though they have had three different bench bosses in the past four years.

Friedman said it wouldn’t be surprising if the Jets were another team interested in Keefe, though he wondered if one of the more experienced coaches would be a contender for Winnipeg’s job.

“Kevin Cheveldayoff and Todd McLellan have a long history, I’m not sure though that that’s going to be where they go. There’s a lot of intrigue here.”

As for the Kings, who let go of McLellan mid-season, Friedman reported there’s a chance they continue on with Jim Hiller and remove the interim tag from his title. Under Hiller, the Kings went 21-12-1 and were one of the best defensive teams in the league with a 2.44 GAA. Of course, that didn’t help them against the Edmonton Oilers, who eliminated the Kings in five games in the first round.

“I’m not ready yet to proclaim they’re going in any different direction as of yet,” Friedman said. “I think they are going through their process with Hiller.