Being an NHL coach is a risky job these days.
There’s near-constant turnover of coaches, especially considering two bench bosses who were hired last off-season didn't even make it to a second season. Stanley Cup champion Dan Bylsma only got one year under his belt with the Seattle Kraken before they dismissed him. Drew Bannister, who was promoted from the St. Louis Blues' interim coach gig to the permanent role last year, was gone by late November when Jim Montgomery became available.
It’s about as cold-blooded an industry as it gets, but seven NHL coaches who were hired last off-season are entering their second full season with their new team: Buffalo's Lindy Ruff, Ottawa's Travis Green, Toronto's Craig Berube, New Jersey's Sheldon Keefe, Winnipeg's Scott Arniel, San Jose's Ryan Warsofsky and Columbus' Dean Evason. Andre Tourigny, meanwhile, went from coaching the Arizona Coyotes to the Utah Mammoth.
Let's focus on three of those coaches with particularly intriguing campaigns ahead and what challenges they may face.
Craig Berube, Toronto Maple Leafs
When the Maple Leafs turned to Berube last summer, there was a sense Toronto needed to be a tougher team to play against, mentally and physically.
Certainly, as the 2024-25 season unfolded, the Leafs were molded in Berube’s vision.
Leafs upper management said this off-season that Berube will have more of an impact on Toronto’s roster. That means making the Buds into a grittier, nastier team – and that’s what’s happened with the acquisitions of rugged players, including former Vegas Golden Knights center Nicolas Roy, former Vancouver Canucks left winger Dakota Joshua and former Montreal Canadiens tough guy Michael Pezzetta.
The Leafs now have a deep group of forwards that play a game Berube prefers. In 2025-26, time will tell whether the Leafs were right to give the coach a greater say in matters, including their most recent roster restructuring.
Oh, and there’s also the matter of winning the Atlantic Division again and pushing past the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
Berube’s tasks are clear and straightforward. If Toronto fails to improve next season, he may have a warmer seat on the Original Six franchise.
Berube's Imprint On Leafs' Roster Could Overshadow Marner's DepartureToronto Maple Leafs star right winger William Nylander is one of the multiple players taking part in the NHL/NHLPA's European player media tour, which kicked off in Milan earlier this week.
Travis Green, Ottawa Senators
By just about every metric, Green’s first season with the Senators was a success.
He guided Ottawa to fourth place in the highly competitive Atlantic Division with a 45-30-7 record, as well as the Sens’ first playoff appearance since 2017.
Sure, the Senators would’ve liked to have done better than their six-game, first-round exit at the hands of the Maple Leafs, but Rome wasn’t built in a day, and Ottawa’s development needs to be sure and steady. That’s the goal of Sens GM Steve Staios, and it’s Green’s job to get this team to a newer level than the level the playoffs were for them last season.
Green’s challenges this coming year include potentially pushing past one or two teams ahead of them in the Atlantic and challenging the Leafs, Cup-champion Florida Panthers and Tampa Bay Lightning for a better spot in the division. That’s not going to be an easy task, so if the Senators can’t do that, they still need to be a wild-card team in the Eastern Conference. Falling out of the playoffs would be a significant step backward, and considering how many teams want into the post-season, rebounding the year afterward won't be easy.
The Sens still have a young core, but at the same time, the time for patience and forgiveness has more or less come to an end in Ottawa. At least hanging onto a wild-card berth will get their young players more playoff experience. But even then, it’s hard to see this Sens team winning two or three rounds next spring.
For those reasons, Green must show some kind of progress in the standings – or at least maintain the gains the Senators made last season.
Sheldon Keefe, New Jersey Devils
Even when New Jersey finished third in the Metropolitan Division with a 42-33-7 record, there was a general sense of dissatisfaction with the team not getting past the first round.
Maybe that’s because the core of the Devils hasn't gotten this team past the second round of the playoffs for the first time since the 2011-12 season.
Some of that falls at the feet of Keefe, who found a home with the Devils after being fired by the Maple Leafs in 2023-24. But the largest part of the blame should be directed at that New Jersey core.
Star center Jack Hughes and star defenseman Dougie Hamilton can’t stay regularly healthy, and left winger Timo Meier hasn't returned to his 35-goal form he had with the San Jose Sharks. Those are too many issues for even the greatest coach to figure out, but Keefe should still be able to do well if the team stays healthy and their goaltending tandem of Jacob Markstrom and the re-signed Jake Allen holds up their end of the bargain.
Keefe always was careful to not rip his star players during his Leafs days, and the same has held true for his first year running the Devils. He’s been delicate, almost always giving a public endorsement to his players. However, the stress of the coming year will be a very real issue for New Jersey to contend with, and it will be Keefe’s job to keep them level-headed and capable of adapting to any situation that arises.
In Toronto, he’s proven himself to be a solid coach – at least, in the regular season – so we expect the same from him and his Devils this coming year.
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