Published Apr 05, 2026 \u00a0\u2022\u00a0 Last updated 32\u00a0minutes ago \u00a0\u2022\u00a0 9 minute read<\/p>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n You can save this article by registering for free here<\/a>. Or sign-in<\/a> if you have an account.<\/p>\n If the Maple Leafs believe they will return to competitive form next season \u2014 and that seems to be the approach Keith Pelley and ownership want to take \u2014 then they should be on the Bruce Cassidy or Pete DeBoer watch almost immediately. If not already.<\/p>\n Advertisement 2<\/p>\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.<\/p>\n THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY<\/p>\n Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada.<\/p>\n Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account.Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on.Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists.Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists.Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword.<\/p>\n SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES<\/p>\n Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada.<\/p>\n Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account.Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on.Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists.Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists.Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword.<\/p>\n REGISTER \/ SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES<\/p>\n Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.<\/p>\n Access articles from across Canada with one account.Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments.Enjoy additional articles per month.Get email updates from your favourite authors.<\/p>\n THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK.<\/p>\n Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.<\/p>\n Access articles from across Canada with one accountShare your thoughts and join the conversation in the commentsEnjoy additional articles per monthGet email updates from your favourite authors<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n Yes, they need a general manager or director of hockey operations or whatever you want to call the position, but there are only two sure-thing elite coaches available and they\u2019re likely to be snapped up quickly once this season concludes.<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n Hiring a coach before a general manager or someone doing that job is a foolhardy way to proceed. Really, the Leafs need someone to replace the fired Brad Treliving quickly and then hire a coach just as quickly before the market runs dry.<\/p>\n Cassidy\u2019s teams have averaged 106 points per season over the past seven years in Vegas or Boston. He won a Stanley Cup with the Golden Knights and lost one with the Bruins. Advertisement 3<\/p>\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n He\u2019s coached 18 years in the NHL and has just two losing seasons with five different teams.<\/p>\n Read More<\/p>\n SIMMONS: CEO Keith Pelley talks a better game than the Maple Leafs play<\/p>\n <\/a> SIMMONS: Why Brad Treliving’s time was up with the Maple Leafs<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n Most hockey coaches are reasonably replaceable. There are a lot of Craig Berubes out there you can miss the playoffs with. But for every Paul Maurice or Joel Quenneville or Rod Brind\u2019Amour, there is a long list of those who aren\u2019t so certain.<\/p>\n The Leafs have yet to fire Berube, which they could have or should have done when they fired Treliving. But he can\u2019t be brought back next season unless it\u2019s the Leafs\u2019 determination to throw the season and begin the rebuild. Which makes almost no sense because they may not have their own first-round draft pick next season (it was traded, with top-10 protection, to the Philadelphia Flyers in the Scott Laughton deal).<\/p>\n Your Midday Sun<\/p>\n Thanks for signing up!<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n Advertisement 4<\/p>\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n So the Leafs are caught in a position of paddling in circles. They have two more years of Auston Matthews<\/a>. They have William Nylander and Matthew Knies signed long-term. And they don\u2019t have much after that.<\/p>\n They can\u2019t tank because they may not have their pick next year and they can\u2019t go for it because they don\u2019t have enough depth or talent, especially on defence. A coach can make that kind of difference, the way Pat Burns or Pat Quinn did in earlier Leafs incarnations.<\/p>\n The new boss of hockey operations may sell himself on a one-year go-for-it mentality \u2014 which is what ownership wants to hear \u2014 all while realizing the rebuild will probably start one year later.<\/p>\n Cassidy or DeBoer are perfect for the go-for-it attempt and not at all suitable for the bottoming-out part of the equation. Advertisement 5<\/p>\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n I\u2019ve known Keith Pelley for almost 30 years. I\u2019ve worked with him, around him and for him in that time. There is a lot to like about him. His energy can be captivating. What he should never do again, in his position as CEO of Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment, is give news conferences. He tends to say the wrong things. He doesn\u2019t necessarily look or sounds comfortable, and just he comes across as a touch disingenuous. And when he says slightly outrageous things like \u201ceach team has certain verticals and the verticals weren\u2019t as horizontally integrated as they need to be,\u201d you want to cringe. When his Tuesday news conference was over, the text world among NHL executives and wannabe executives blew up. Everybody texting everybody: Like, what was that? Some of what Pelley was saying was true, but some was pure poppycock. When he said the Montreal Canadiens and Buffalo Sabres were trains the Leafs didn\u2019t see coming, there was front-office cringing all over the place. Before the season, the Leafs identified four teams on the rise worth fearing: Montreal, Buffalo, Detroit and Ottawa. Three of the four should be in the playoffs. This was not a train the Leafs didn\u2019t see coming. What they weren\u2019t prepared for was being driven over by the train \u2026 Pelley wants the Leafs to be more data-driven, which is nice, and sounds good. But would data have jumped Radko Gudas when no Leaf did? Will data be the first-pass-out-of-the-zone defenceman the Leafs desperately need? Will data measure heart or character, some of hockey\u2019s most important components? Data is necessary for all pro sports teams today. But it may be less necessary in a random game such as hockey when compared with the other sports. If data can play right wing on a line with Matthews, I\u2019m all for it \u2026 Before Mike Gillis was hired as GM in Vancouver, he cuddled up to ownership of the Canucks prior to the firing of Dave Nonis, and all but sold himself as the saviour. He\u2019s now trying a similar approach with the Leafs. Whatever short list the Leafs may eventually have, Gillis shouldn\u2019t be on it. It\u2019s no secret why he hasn\u2019t been hired by anyone since Vancouver fired him \u2026 Doug Armstrong hasn\u2019t said he wants the Leafs job, but more importantly, he hasn\u2019t said he doesn\u2019t want it. And he\u2019s been given the opportunity to say so and hasn\u2019t done so. Armstrong, who grew up the son of an NHL linesman, in the same province as the Leafs, would probably welcome the homecoming. He\u2019s smart, savvy and poised enough to be able to work the Toronto market. What he has to explain is what\u2019s happened to his St. Louis Blues after winning the Stanley Cup in 2019. They\u2019ve been out of the playoffs three of the past four years and have won just one round since the surprising Cup victory seven years back \u2026 If the Leafs have any hope of competing next season \u2014 and I doubt they can \u2014 they must sign Darren Raddysh, the free-agent defenceman from Tampa with the booming slap shot, and Alex Tuch, the power forward from Buffalo. I\u2019d like to see a line of Matthews, Tuch and Matthew Knies. That would be difficult to play against.<\/p>\n Advertisement 6<\/p>\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n HEAR AND THERE<\/p>\n What a list for Cole Caufield, who had 49 goals entering Saturday\u2019s play, to join when he scores his next one: Only six players have managed 50 goals in a season for the Montreal Canadiens. Their names: Maurice \u201cRocket\u201d Richard, Bernie \u201cBoom Boom\u201d Geoffrion, Guy Lafleur, Steve Shutt, Pierre Larouche and Stephane Richer. The great Lafleur scored 50 in six straight seasons for Montreal \u2026 The Maple Leafs have had just four 50-goal scorers in their history, but without nicknames like Rocket or Boom Boom. They have Matthews, Rick Vaive, Dave Andreychuk and Gary Leeman \u2026 The ancient giant Frank Mahovlich, who still holds the Montreal record for most playoff points in a season, scored 48 goals for the Leafs when the schedule was only 70 games long and he scored 49 for the Red Wings when the season was 76 games long. Next season, the NHL is going to 84 games. There will be more 50-goal scorers. It won\u2019t seem right \u2026 Since scoring the American version of the Golden Goal, Jack Hughes has been red hot for the New Jersey Devils, with 32 points in 18 games. The only NHL player with more points in that time: The Professor, Nikita Kucherov, at 33. Connor McDavid has 30 post-Olympics and Nathan MacKinnon has added 28. Macklin Celebrini has 24 points in 19 games post-Milan \u2026 Why Hart Trophy voting is so challenging this season: McDavid has been in on 47.7% of Edmonton\u2019s goals, while Kucherov is at 46.2% in Tampa, Celebrini at 46% with San Jose and MacKinnon at 42% in Colorado.<\/p>\n Advertisement 7<\/p>\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n For the record, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. didn\u2019t hit a home run in his first 18 games last season. And he hit just two in 28 games in April the year before. Now he has one. Something to build on \u2026 That\u2019s it for Brendon Little as a Blue Jay, isn\u2019t it? I don\u2019t worry about his ERA. I worry about his DFA \u2026 The one player, Guerrero aside, the Jays couldn\u2019t afford to lose: Alejandro Kirk. He\u2019s just on the verge of being a great Major League player. You have to figure six weeks for a fractured left thumb to heel, which isn\u2019t exactly advantageous for a catcher and for Jays team struggling on offence \u2026 The early flaw in Kazuma Okamoto: 10 strikeouts in 36 at bats \u2026 If you missed my exclusive interview with Roberto Alomar, who broke his silence after being banned from baseball five years ago, here it is: https:\/\/tinyurl.com\/5n6tcd7z<\/a> \u2026 I\u2019d been trying to interview Alomar for about three years. The reason? When baseball suspended him, they never really provided clarity as to why. He was essentially tried behind closed doors. That seemed wrong then, wrong now \u2026 Alomar, to me, remains the greatest Blue Jays player of all time, no matter what you may think of his personal life \u2026 My least-favourite baseball word: Velo. Nolan Ryan threw hard. Harder than anyone before him. Nobody ever mentioned \u201cvelo\u201d \u2026 My favourite ballparks: Fenway Park, Wrigley Field, Camden Yards, Oracle Park, PNC Park. Worst name of any stadium in baseball \u2014 Rate Field, home of the White Sox \u2026 The Raptors season will almost be a total waste if they don\u2019t get out of the play-in round prior to the playoffs \u2026 What hasn\u2019t been a waste, though, is the development of 2024 first round pick Ja\u2019Kobe Walter. In March, Walter shot 46% from three-point land after 43% in February. Steph Curry, maybe the greatest shooter in NBA history, is shooting threes at 39.1% this season. Luke Kennard of the Lakers, who scores just 8.1 points a game, leads the NBA with shooting 48.7% from three this season \u2026 By comparison, Gradey Dick, drafted a year before Walter, shot 25.9% from three in March and just 20% in February.<\/p>\n Advertisement 8<\/p>\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n A World Cup without Italy is a poorer World Cup. I know it benefits Team Canada to have Italy eliminated, but big picture, in a place like Toronto, how much fun have we lost out on without the Italians involved in a city with so many Italians? \u2026 Toronto is going to love Marina Mabrey, the expansion draft pickup by the WNBA\u2019s expansion Tempo. She\u2019s a Tie Domi template in women\u2019s basketball clothing, with a trash-talking mouth and an occasional lack of control. And more talent than Domi. Lots more \u2026 What does curling sound like? It sounds like Vic Rauter. It probably looks like Vic Rauter. Few broadcasters ever do one sport so well, with seeming ease, voice and personality. Vic Rauter is retiring this weekend. We have been blessed to have him round for all these years \u2026 Among the stranger numbers of this Leafs season: William Nylander is scoring at a 100-point pace, which is more than he\u2019s scored in any NHL season. He is scoring at a 36-goal pace, though, which would be his fewest in four seasons. Odds are there will only be five 100-point scorers in the NHL this season. Just three years ago there were 11 \u2026 Who would have predicted Karel Vejmelka of Utah would have played more games this season than any other NHL goalie? Over the past 10 seasons, Connor Hellebuyck leads all goalies in games played 594, followed closely by Andrei Vasilevskiy with 553 \u2026 . The thought Jim Nill was a candidate for the Leafs job is media nonsense from those who don\u2019t know better. He was staying in Dallas, period, which has been home to his family for the past 13 years \u2026 The Maple Leafs need a hockey boss with vision, power, character, NHL contacts and extreme hockey knowledge, leadership, and toughness. Which sounds a lot like Brendan Shanahan \u2026 Happy birthday to Doug Favell (81), Chad Owens (44), Roberto Luongo (47), Kevin Weekes (51), Matt Bonner (46), Matt Boldy (25), Charlotte Flair (40), Bo Horvat (31), Scott Rolen (51), Karen Magnussen (74), Rachel Homan (37) and Diamond Dallas Page (70) \u2026 And hey, whatever became of Marco Estrada? We apologize, but this video has failed to load.<\/p>\n Play Video<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n Share this article in your social network<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Breadcrumb Trail Links HockeyNHLToronto Maple Leafs Get the latest from Steve Simmons straight to your inbox Sign Up…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":542013,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5106],"tags":[5,20,5172,4,66,31,5171],"class_list":{"0":"post-542012","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-toronto-maple-leafs","8":"tag-hockey","9":"tag-maple-leafs","10":"tag-mapleleafs","11":"tag-nhl","12":"tag-toronto","13":"tag-toronto-maple-leafs","14":"tag-torontomapleleafs"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/116352148395293466","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/542012","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=542012"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/542012\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/542013"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=542012"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=542012"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=542012"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"If](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Bruce-Cassidy-April-5.jpg\")
If the Leafs are serious about contending next season, they need to make a call to fired Golden Knights head coach Bruce Cassidy.\u2002 Patrick Smith\/Getty Images fileArticle content<\/p>\n![\"Toronto](\"https:\/\/dcs-static.gprod.postmedia.digital\/20.9.1\/websites\/images\/identity\/logo-identity-tsun.svg\"){kind=logo}
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DeBoer\u2019s teams have averaged 102 per season over the past eight seasons. He has coached both Dallas and New Jersey to the Cup final, losing both times.<\/p>\n![\"Keith](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Keith-Pelley-President-and-CEO-of-Maple-Leaf-e1774995075175.jpg\")
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This is the biggest challenge for Leafs ownership, Pelley, and the new director of hockey ops: Trying to determine where you can or cannot go when none of the paths are in any way clear.<\/p>\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Keith-Pelley-April-5.jpg\")
The cringe factor was high during MLSE president Keith Pelley\u2019s news conference after the firing of GM Brad Treliving.\u2002Ernest Doroszuk\/Toronto SunTHIS AND THAT<\/p>\n![\"Blue](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Brendon-Little-April-5.jpg\")
Struggling Blue Jays reliever Brendon Little was shaky again on Saturday. Frank Gunn\/The Canadian Press fileSCENE AND HEARD<\/p>\n![\"TSN](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Vic-Rauter-April-5.jpg\")
Make the final! A happy retirement to TSN analyst Vic Rauter.AND ANOTHER THING<\/p>\n
ssimmons@postmedia.com<\/a><\/p>\n![\"Loading...\"](\"https:\/\/dcs-static.gprod.postmedia.digital\/20.9.1\/websites\/images\/common\/icon-spinner-animated.svg\"){kind=icon}
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