Toronto Maple Leafs Fire Head Coach Craig Berube
The Toronto Maple Leafs fired head coach Craig Berube, ending a two-year tenure that produced an Atlantic Division title in its first season and a 28th-place finish and first playoff miss since 2016 in its second.
New general manager John Chayka made the announcement in a statement issued by the club.
"Craig is a tremendous coach and an even better person," Chayka said. "This decision is more reflective of an organizational shift and an opportunity for a fresh start than it is an evaluation of Craig. We are grateful for his leadership, professionalism and commitment to the Maple Leafs organization and wish Craig and his family nothing but the best moving forward."
The organization added that the next head coach will determine the makeup of the remainder of the coaching staff.
Per TSN's Pierre LeBrun, Berube has two years remaining on his contract at $4.5 million per season, meaning Toronto owes him $9 million unless he finds another coaching position elsewhere.
The Rise and Fall in Two Seasons
Berube's first year in Toronto was exactly what the organization needed.
He was hired in the summer of 2024 after the Leafs moved on from Sheldon Keefe, and immediately changed the culture and the competitive identity of a roster that had developed a reputation for underperforming in big moments.
His Leafs won the Atlantic Division in 2024-25, advancing to Game 7 of the second round before falling to the Florida Panthers.
It was one of the franchise's better postseason runs in years and generated a lot of optimism about what was being built.
Year two went differently.
General Manager John Chayka announced today that the club has parted ways with head coach Craig Berube pic.twitter.com/PJo8e9ATLW
— Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) May 13, 2026
Toronto lost Mitch Marner and ended up finishing 32-36-14 with a 28th-place ranking in the NHL, the worst record in the Eastern Conference alongside their Atlantic Division rivals.
The team was in a playoff spot entering the Olympic break in February before collapsing on the other side of it, losing winnable games and falling out of the race in a matter of weeks.
GM John Chayka has announced that the Toronto Maple Leafs have relieved Craig Berube of his coaching duties. pic.twitter.com/k8Vu7JeuuJ
— TSN (@TSN_Sports) May 13, 2026
Berube himself acknowledged the result and accepted accountability at his season-ending media availability.
"It's on me. It's on everybody," he said. "We didn't perform at the level we needed to perform to get back to the playoffs."
He also said he expected to return as head coach for 2026-27.
That will not be happening.
MLSE CEO Keith Pelley had said publicly during the GM search that he would defer the coaching decision to whoever was hired to run hockey operations.
The Maple Leafs now have a new GM, no head coach, the first overall pick in the 2026 NHL Draft courtesy of winning the lottery last week, and roughly $38 million in projected cap space.
Photo Credit: John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images
