The Maple Leafs have yet to address the three vacancies on their coaching staff after assistants Dave Farrish, Greg Cronin and Scott Gordon were dismissed earlier this month, but rumors persist that they have interest in adding former Washington Capitals head coach Adam Oates to the fold.
TSN Insider Darren Dreger reports that the Leafs are keenly interested in the Hall of Famer, who served as an assistant under Peter DeBoer in New Jersey before his two year stint with the Caps, but are in a holding pattern as Oates may be in the running for the vacant head coaching position in Florida.
One factor in Oates favor is his past work with the Devils forwards and power play, specifically David Clarkson, who had his career best 30-goal season the year that New Jersey went to the Stanley Cup Final.
Other names who could be candidates and have prior relationships with head coach Randy Carlyle are former Caps and current Providence Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy, former Columbus Blue Jackets head coach and current New York Rangers assistant coach Scott Arniel, Devils assistant Mike Foligno, along with Toronto Marlies assistants Gord Dineen and Derek King.
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Team Canada’s run at the 2014 IIHF World Championships ended on Thursday, as third period goals from Juuso Hietanen and Iiro Pakarinen gave Finland a 3-2 victory in Minsk, Belarus.
Nazem Kadri and Morgan Rielly went scoreless in the game and former Leaf Ben Scrivens stopped 23 of 26 shots for Canada.
James Reimer went 3-0-1 in the tournament with a 1.96 GAA and .920 save percentage, but allowed two goals on just 16 shots against Norway on Tuesday.
Team USA and Leafs defenseman Jake Gardiner were also eliminated on Thursday, as the Czech Republic scored three second period goals and held on for a 4-3 victory.
Gardiner had four points in eight games for the US, Kadri and Rielly ended the tournament with three points each.
Nikolai Kulemin has six points in eight games for Team Russia, playing alongside fellow Magnitogorsk native Evgeni Malkin, which just adds to the speculation that Kulemin will end up as his linemate in Pittsburgh next season.
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