The weekend saw five more teams join the early exit club in the NHL and some of those teams may be joining the Toronto Maple Leafs, Buffalo Sabres, San Jose Sharks, Philadelphia Flyers and Edmonton Oilers in a search for a new head coach.
Pittsburgh head coach Mike Johnston and GM Jim Rutherford appear to be safe after the New York Rangers eliminated the Penguins in five games, but Blues bench boss Ken Hitchcock is in trouble after a second-straight St. Louis first round disappointment.
While the Leafs offer the challenge of the league’s biggest hockey media market and big financial payday that might attract a big name head coach, the odds of Mike Babcock, Todd McLellan or Hitchcock coming to Toronto with the club in it’s current state are a long shot at best.
The direction in Toronto is clearly going towards tearing down their current roster and rebuilding with youth, which makes it extremely unlikely that a prominent coach with championship pedigree will pick the Leafs (who may not be within shouting distance of the playoffs for three or four years) over a team further along in their rebuild or ready to compete right away.
A better fit for a team in transition may be a younger coach with some NHL experience who can help develop the influx of young players expected in Toronto. TSN’s Darren Dreger indicated that Grand Rapids Griffins coach Jeff Blashill and former Carolina Hurricanes bench boss Kirk Muller could be on the Leafs radar, but that depends on how the coaching merry-go-round plays out.
Blashill served as an assistant to Babcock in 2011 before winning the Calder Cup in his rookie season with the Wings AHL affiliate and his prospects for an NHL job are intertwined with his former boss.
If Babcock leaves Detroit for greener pastures, Blashill would immediately becomes the leading candidate for the Red Wings job, but would likely bolt if the two-time Olympic gold winner re-upped in the Motor City.
Muller, a former Leaf and teammate of Team President Brendan Shanahan in New Jersey, had an 80-80-27 record in three seasons as Canes head coach and is currently serving as an assistant to Hitchcock in St. Louis. If Hitchcock is relieved of his duties, Muller could be in consideration to take over the talented but underachieving Blues.
Dreger also believes that Soo Greyhounds head coach Sheldon Keefe will be part of the Leafs organization next season. Keefe was named the OHL Coach of the Year last week after leading the club assembled by current Leafs Assistant GM Kyle Dubas to a 54-12-0-2 record. It is believed that the 34-year-old will not be a candidate for the Leafs head coaching position, but could be brought in as an assistant at the NHL level or with the AHL Toronto Marlies.
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