First Intriguing Name Emerges As Strong Candidate For Next Maple Leafs Head Coach

Toronto Maple Leafs executives Mats Sundin and John Chayka

The dust hasn't yet settled on the firing of head coach Craig Berube Wednesday morning, but we're already hearing of a notable name being attached to the Toronto Maple Leafs' new opening behind the bench.

Insider Elliotte Friedman tells us on Wednesday that former Leafs assistant and current Abbotsford Canucks head coach Manny Malhotra is now a prime candidate for the Toronto job.

I did have a couple of candidates say to me that the Leafs wouldn't be afraid in trying an up-and-comer, a first timer. I do think a guy like Manny Malhotra, and it also depends what Vancouver does here, but I think...Malhotra could be very prominent in this search... will be on (the Toronto) radar.

If that's the direction that new GM John Chayka and Mats Sundin do decide to go in, Malhotra makes sense in a lot of ways. He was an assistant coach on the Leafs bench for four years, from 2020 through 2024, before leaving to take the head coaching gig for the AHL's Abbotsford Canucks.

And all he did there was lead them to the Calder Cup in his first season.

The Canucks are about to name Ryan Johnson as their new GM, with Daniel & Henrik Sedin overseeing him.

Of course, Malhotra still has a job in the Canucks organization, and it's entirely possible that Johnson, as the new GM, could tab him to replace Adam Foote behind the Vancouver bench. That remains to be seen. One step at a time.

Friedman does add that the Leafs will ask permission to speak with the top coaching candidate on the market, the Vegas Golden Knights' ex-coach Bruce Cassidy. But as the insider notes, Cassidy is in win-now mode, which, understandably, doesn't line up with the Leafs' situation.