Careful What You Wish For: Craig Berube Says It Would Be An Honor To Coach Maple Leafs

Craig Berube has been off the NHL coaching bench for just a few weeks but the man they call "Chief" is itching to get back behind the bench. He even singled out one team saying it would be "an honor" to coach them: the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Berube has been open about his coaching aspirations in multiple interviews. That includes a recent one with former NHLer Jay Rosehill and writer Nick Alberga on The Leafs Nation.

"It would be an honor to coach there for the Toronto Maple Leafs, if that ever happened. It's (one of) if not the best hockey market in the world. A great organization that does everything they can to try to win," he said of the idea, per Sportsnet.

Of course, on a Leafs-centric show, it would be weird for Berube to be like, "Hell no," when asked about coaching the team, but the thought of it is interesting.

There's no doubt Berube — who led the St. Louis Blues to the franchise's first Stanley Cup win in 2019 — will be one of the hottest commodities on the coaching market. Plenty of teams may want to at least kick the tires on him, and frankly if the Leafs don't go get out of the second round of the postseason — or at least get pretty close — they may want to take a look at Berube.

Despite high-end talent, the Toronto Maple Leafs have had a lot of trouble getting over the hump. (Photo by Mark Blinch/NHLI via Getty Images)

Berube Is An Interesting Option If The Leafs Want To Make A Change

Current Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe simply hasn't been able to get the team over the hump and it stands to reason that new GM Brad Treliving might want to hire his own coach.

Berube would be a solid fit. He already coached one team to a Cup. Why couldn't bring the Leafs their first one since the 1960s?

That's an appealing proposition in and of itself, but coaching in Toronto is a completely different ball game than almost anywhere else in the NHL. The high expectations, coupled with the lack of success and the team always being under the microscope, make that job the toughest in the NHL at the moment, and quite possibly one of the toughest in all of sports.

Still, the allure of coaching an Original 6 team would outweigh those negatives.

Plus, I think Berube could be one of the Leafs' better options if they fancy a change. He might be able to extract more out of offseason additions Max Domi and Tyler Bertuzzi. Both players have picked up the pace as of late after slow starts, but they play an important role in adding depth scoring behind the team's Big 4 of Auston Matthews, John Tavares, Mitch Marner, and William Nylander.

That could be a marriage made in heaven for both sides, but as is also often the case in Toronto, it could end in frustration.

It'll be interesting to see how it all plays out.

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