The Toronto Maple Leafs are looking for a new head coach after the organization's new brass of GM John Chayka and senior executive advisor Mats Sundin made the decision to fire Craig Berube.

Berube completed two full campaigns with the Leafs and is now a free agent and in the mix for coaching jobs across the NHL.

When Chayka was named GM of the Maple Leafs, many were surprised and shocked by the hire, for several different reasons.

With the surprise hire for the GM position, what if Toronto go a similar route when selecting the 42nd head coach in franchise history?

Here are three surprising head coach candidates for the Maple Leafs.

Todd Nelson

Maybe it wouldn't surprise some if the Maple Leafs considered hiring Todd Nelson as the team's next head coach. Nonetheless, he'd be a great candidate to be a head coach in the NHL, let alone for Toronto, and many may not have Nelson at the top of their lists.

Nelson is currently an assistant coach with the Pittsburgh Penguins, coming off his first season with the team. He previously spent three years as the head coach of the AHL's Hershey Bears, winning a pair of Calder Cups in that stint. Nelson has won a total of four Calder Cups in his coaching career.

Despite his excellence in the American League, Nelson has never had a true tenure as an NHL head coach. In 2014-15, Nelson led the Edmonton Oilers behind the bench as an interim head coach for the final 51 games of that regular season.

Even if the Maple Leafs don't snatch him up, Nelson should be getting an offer to be a head coach in the NHL eventually.

David Carle Among Three First-Time NHL Head Coach Candidates For Maple LeafsWith Craig Berube out, the Toronto Maple Leafs are in search of a new head coach, with multiple reports suggesting they'll look for a fresh candidate. Here are three first-time NHL head coaches who could be considered for the Maple Leafs' 42nd head coach in franchise history.

Dallas Eakins

Dallas Eakins has been out of the league for a few years now, with his last season as an NHL head coach coming in 2022-23. Since then, he's been the head coach of the DEL's Mannheim in Germany.

In the NHL, Eakins coached the Oilers for two seasons and was actually replaced by Nelson in 2014-15. He also had a four-year stint with the Anaheim Ducks from 2019-20 to 2022-23. In between those gigs, he was the head coach of Anaheim's AHL affiliate, the San Diego Gulls.

It's worth noting that Eakins has ties to the Maple Leafs, serving as an assistant coach in 2006-07 and 2007-08, as well as the director of player development in 2008-09. Also, he was the bench boss of the Toronto Marlies from 2009-10 to 2012-13.

Furthermore, the Daily Faceoff's Jeff Marek suggested that it should be expected to hear Eakins' name surface in Toronto's search.

Maple Leafs’ Head Coaching Search To Include At Least One Internal CandidateMaple Leafs GM John Chayka said the search for a new bench boss would be "wide and deep". That will include speaking with current assistant coach Derek Lalonde.

Bruce Boudreau

Like Eakins, it's been a few years since Bruce Boudreau has been a head coach in the NHL. His last stint ended in 2022-23 when he was fired by the Vancouver Canucks in the midst of his second campaign with the team.

Boudreau, a Toronto native, has had some successful campaigns as an NHL head coach. 

In his first year as an NHL bench boss, he won the Jack Adams Trophy with the Washington Capitals. In 2009-10, he led Washington to a stellar 54-15-13 record, which turned out to be the best season in Capitals history.

He had some more great years with the Ducks, marking a 54-20-8 record in the 2013-14 season, which was also the best campaign in Anaheim's franchise history.

Boudreau certainly knows how to make a team successful in the regular season, winning eight divisional titles in his NHL coaching career.

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The Edmonton Oilers are in the market for a new head coach following the dismissal of Kris Knoblauch, and amid the pursuit of high-profile options like Bruce Cassidy, whispers have emerged about a name that once commanded respect across the NHL but now carries significant baggage: Former Toronto Maple Leafs coach Mike Babcock.

On Oilers Now, host Bob Stauffer and former NHL GM Brian Lawton floated the idea, with Lawton suggesting that someone with Stan Bowman’s background might consider Babcock given his pedigree. Lawton, who knows Babcock personally, described him as a good human being who deserves a second chance in a business that can be unforgiving. Yet, the conversation quickly pivoted to the realities of Babcock’s recent past, particularly the short-lived and tumultuous stint with the Columbus Blue Jackets.

TSN’s Darren Dreger reached out directly to Babcock, Dreger shared the veteran’s response: 

“Dregs, I’m retired. Loving it.”

Part of me loves the symmetry and energy of idea of Babcock coaching Oilers.

Babcock — something to prove
McD and Drai — something to prove
Bowman — something to prove
Oilers — something to prove https://t.co/WsaUYdX4ak

— David Staples (@dstaples) May 20, 2026

Babcock's coaching journey is one of remarkable highs followed by a steep fall from grace. He began his NHL head coaching career with the Anaheim Ducks, leading them to the 2003 Stanley Cup Final. His true breakthrough came in Detroit, where he guided the Red Wings to the 2008 Stanley Cup and established himself as one of the league's elite tacticians. His international success with Team Canada, securing Olympic gold in 2010 and 2014, further cemented his status as a winner who could extract the best from star-studded rosters.

That reputation led the Toronto Maple Leafs to sign him to a massive eight-year, $50-million contract in 2015, positioning him as the franchise’s saviour during a rebuild. In Toronto, Babcock inherited a young core headlined by Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, and others. His early tenure showed promise, with the team improving and making the playoffs in three straight seasons. However, underlying issues simmered.

Vegas GM is NHL laughingstock over Cassidy, while Oilers could be open to Mike Babcock as coachhttps://t.co/ZuyCEpLUgy via @edmontonjournalpic.twitter.com/uoDsUdi0Gm

— David Staples (@dstaples) May 20, 2026

The most infamous incident involved a then-19-year-old Marner during the 2016-17 season. Babcock tasked the rookie with ranking his teammates by work ethic. Marner, eager to please, complied and even placed himself at the bottom. What followed was a betrayal of trust: Babcock shared the list with veterans like Tyler Bozak and Nazem Kadri, who were ranked lower. Marner was reportedly brought to tears, and teammates were furious with the coach for pitting players against each other in such a public, humiliating way.

Stories of a toxic environment mounted. Former players and staff described Babcock’s style as imperious, with verbal abuse and mistreatment that spared no one. Johan Franzen, from his Detroit days, later called him a bully. In Toronto, Babcock’s methods clashed with a modern player-empowerment era. After a poor start to the 2019-20 season, the Leafs fired him just 23 games in, with years left on his deal. Brendan Shanahan acknowledged the tactics were neither appropriate nor acceptable.

Babcock largely stayed out of the spotlight afterward, working in university hockey and as an analyst, but his reputation lingered. Then, in the summer of 2023, the Columbus Blue Jackets took a chance, hiring him as head coach. It lasted mere weeks. Reports from the Spittin’ Chiclets podcast detailed Babcock asking players for their phones during meetings to view personal photos, an invasive tactic framed as team bonding. Players felt their privacy was violated, prompting an NHLPA investigation. Babcock resigned before coaching a single regular-season game, calling it a distraction. Columbus GM Jarmo Kekalainen later admitted the hire was a mistake.

These incidents paint a picture of a coach whose old-school, demanding approach, once celebrated for driving success, now collides with today's NHL values around mental health, player autonomy, and respect. Babcock's 700-plus wins and championship pedigree remain undeniable, but trust has eroded.

For the Oilers, facing pressure to deliver with Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, the appeal of a proven winner is understandable, especially if other targets like Cassidy prove elusive due to contractual hurdles with Vegas. Bowman himself received a second chance after his own controversies, as Lawton noted. But hiring Babcock would invite intense scrutiny and potential locker-room friction in a market already under a microscope.

As of now, Babcock insists he's content in retirement. The Oilers' search continues, likely prioritizing candidates who can unify rather than divide. In a league evolving rapidly, Babcock's history serves as a cautionary tale: success on the ice doesn't always translate when the human element falters. Edmonton must weigh pedigree against past patterns carefully if his name resurfaces.

As is customary, the GM and coach of all the teams that made the final four had a scheduled media availability before the start of their third-round series. On Wednesday, Eric Tulsky and Rod Brind’Amour from the Carolina Hurricanes spoke to the media early in the afternoon, while Kent Hughes and Trevor Letowski from the Montreal Canadiens met the press later in the day.

When Tulsky was asked about how the Canadiens operated their rebuild, he said:

Yeah, I mean, he’s done a great job. The team has come a long way; they’ve got a really strong young core, and they’re well set up to obviously have a great run this year and set up to keep getting better from there. Very impressed with what they’ve done, what they’ve put together. It’s going to be a tough round for us.

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That’s a fair assessment, especially when considering that most pundits considered the Canadiens’ window of contention hadn’t opened yet, and here they are in the Eastern Conference Final, just four wins away from playing for the Stanley Cup.

As for being well set up for the future, I believe their goaltending duo says a lot about how well Hughes and his team have planned. They may not have drafted Jakub Dobes, but they did recognize he was a better option than Cayden Primeau, and they now have him competing with Jacob Fowler, who was the heir apparent. Up front, they still have exciting prospects coming through the ranks in Alexander Zharovsky and Michael Hage, and they also have good blueliners waiting for their opportunity.

As for Brind’Amour, he was asked what had made the Canadiens’ power play so successful against the Buffalo Sabres, and he explained:

Well, I don’t know if that’s just in the playoffs, but they’ve been dynamic. They have dynamic players. All five of those guys in their own right are elite at what they do [Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield, Juraj Slafkovsky, Ivan Demidov, and Lane Hutson]. You put them together in those roles, and I think they feed off each other really well.”

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You just watch, they’re in synch. I think a power play is about skill, and they have it. So that’s a definite concern.

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While the Canadiens have had a good success rate on the power play in these playoffs at 25%, they’ll have their work cut out for them against Carolina. The Canes have the second-best penalty kill with a 95% success rate over the eight games they played. However, things have not gone as smoothly on the power play for Brind’Amour’s men; with the man-advantage, they’ve only scored on 13.5% of their opportunities.

It will be interesting to see just how big a role special teams play in the third round. Will penalties be called consistently? It seems like the referees struggled with that in the first two rounds, and it would be great if the quality of the on-ice product weren’t affected by them.

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Seventeen years ago today, Evgeni Malkin put on a show with one of the most remarkable goals of his career in the Eastern Conference Final.

In 2009, the Penguins stormed back to the Stanley Cup Final by blowing past the Carolina Hurricanes in the Conference Final, thanks in part to Evgeni Malkin’s spectacular play with six goals in the four games of the series.

The most special of those six goals came during the Penguins’ 7-4 win in Game 2 of the series.

The Penguins had trailed 3-2 in the game before jumping back out to a 5-3 lead, but Carolina wouldn’t go quietly, drawing back within a goal to make it 5-4 early in the third period.

That’s when Evgeni Malkin made headlines with a special goal, his third of the game.

“Oh my word!” Joe Beninati said on the call. “Evgeni Malkin….spectacular for the hat trick!”

Malkin’s hat-trick goal gave the Penguins a bigger lead, one that they never gave up for the rest of the game, going on to win Games 3 and 4 on the road, and punching their ticket to the Stanley Cup Final.

DENVER — The Colorado Avalanche didn’t lose Game 1 of the Western Conference Final because they were outplayed—they lost it because they failed to execute in the moments that decided it.

Yes, a few calls didn’t go their way. One sequence in particular stood out—where Rasmus Andersson put on what, from the Avalanche bench, probably looked like an early audition for an Academy Award. The whistle came, the penalty followed, and Vegas capitalized shortly after. It wasn’t the only turning point in the game, but it didn’t help settle things down either. Still, that can’t be the first explanation when a game slips away at home.

Because this one came down to execution.

“I think tonight was a matter of them capitalizing on some of their chances,” captain Gabe Landeskog said. “First one's an odd-man rush, second one's a power play, third one's a 2-on-1 right out of the box. Odd-man rushes, we got to clean that up.”

Landeskog Emphasizes Details And Rush Defense

Landeskog also pointed to how Vegas managed to take away one of Colorado’s core strengths—pace through transition.

“They did a good job,” he explained to The Hockey News. “They didn't give us a whole lot off the rush, which I feel like we haven't gotten a whole lot off the rush the whole playoffs. It's not really that time of year to expect any of that, but thought we still did a decent enough job creating scoring chances, creating some screens, and rebounds around (Carter) Hart, but definitely areas that we can be better at, and they're a good hockey team.”

Colorado had chances. Plenty of them. At times, it felt like every scoring opportunity could’ve been bottled and turned into a full meal for the entire building. The looks were there, the lanes opened up, the puck even cooperated for stretches. It just didn’t finish.

The opening period reflected exactly what this matchup promised—tight structure, disciplined spacing, and two elite teams refusing to give ground. Colorado handled that environment well early, trading structure for structure and refusing to be pulled out of shape.

Second Period Slippage Tilts Momentum

The second period, however, shifted the tone.

Puck management began to unravel. Possession became harder to sustain. Breakouts that normally exit cleanly stalled in neutral ice. Passes that usually connect with rhythm arrived just off timing, just off angle—enough to break momentum entirely. At moments, Colorado appeared to press for something decisive rather than allowing the play to develop organically.

Late in the period, with the Avalanche trailing 2–0, Brock Nelson stepped into a prime one-timer look that could have rewritten the game’s trajectory on contact alone. The lane was open, the goaltender compromised, the net essentially exposed—but the shot sailed high and wide.

Moments later, Ross Colton drove a puck through the crease with no finishing touch at the back post. Chances like that don’t linger in playoff series—they vanish.

Golden Knights Punish Every Missed Opportunity

And Vegas made them pay without hesitation.

Brett Howden arrived at the front of the net with purpose and finished through traffic to extend the lead to 3–0—a goal that perfectly encapsulated the night. Simple. Direct. Uncompromising. A depth player operating with conviction while Colorado searched for structure in its own crease.

He’s been more than just a depth piece this postseason. With nine goals and two assists in the playoffs, Howden has become one of those unexpected secondary drivers who tilt games without needing top-line minutes. And once again, he found space precisely where the Avalanche failed to eliminate it. Whether it was body positioning, stick engagement, or urgency, Colorado was a half-step late in clearing danger areas.

Nathan MacKinnon offered no cushioning in his assessment of the performance.

“We just weren't sharp,” he said plainly. “Execution was poor from everybody. Just got to be sharper than that. We had chances.”

Vegas Clogs The Middle Lanes

To their credit, Vegas has built its identity on exactly that kind of detail. Under head coach John Tortorella, the Golden Knights have evolved into a team that compresses the ice, collapses the middle lanes, and forces opponents to live on the perimeter. It’s not designed for aesthetic approval—it’s designed for suffocation.

It’s the kind of system that doesn’t care about style points. It’s about surviving the night, winning ugly, and not caring about what others think about your victory. A win's aa win. 

The structure is deliberate: slow entries, shrink time and space, and punish mistakes in transition. Colorado’s speed never fully materialized because the neutral zone rarely opened cleanly, and when it did, passing lanes were already under siege.

It isn’t a style built for highlight reels, but it doesn’t need to be. It only needs results. And they got it in Game 1. 

There were still moments where the Avalanche threatened to tilt the ice back in their favor, but the margins were unforgiving. Even late-game disorder—when a potential icing wasn’t handled cleanly under a minute remaining—turned into another Vegas opportunity and ultimately an empty-net finish. Small details, decisive outcomes.

Landeskog did at least provide a late spark on the power play, converting with 2:21 remaining. And structurally, there is some positive data: Colorado’s power play has operated at roughly 26% this postseason according to StatMuse. But isolated success won’t be enough at this stage.

What must carry over is the urgency of the third period—except it cannot wait until the third period to arrive.

Because that is what Game 1 ultimately revealed: not a team lacking chances, but one that gave away too many of them through its own decisions—at times trying to do too much instead of simplifying the game, and at others not doing enough to finish the looks it created.

The series is far from settled, but the message from opening night was clear. At this level, control doesn’t vanish in sweeping waves—it slips away one detail at a time.