Highlights
- Craig Berube told reporters “yes” when asked if he expects to coach the Maple Leafs next season.
- Toronto missed the playoffs for the first time since 2015-16 and finished with the fifth-best draft lottery odds.
- Read below to see why Berube’s own job is still anything but guaranteed.
Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube answered the biggest question facing the franchise on Thursday. He expects to be back next season.
The one-word “yes” came during locker cleanout day, one day after a 3-1 loss to the Ottawa Senators closed out a miserable regular season. Toronto finished outside the playoffs for the first time since the 2015-16 campaign, the year before the team drafted Auston Matthews first overall.
Berube added the obvious caveat. He has not received any assurances from MLSE CEO Keith Pelley, meaning his standing with the organization is no clearer to him than it is to anyone outside the building.
That uncertainty has been building for weeks. MLSE already fired general manager Brad Treliving at the end of March, and whoever takes over the front office will have a say in whether Berube stays behind the bench.
The Leafs finished the year with the fifth-best odds for the 2026 NHL Draft Lottery. That is a staggering fall for a roster that won the Atlantic Division last season and pushed the eventual Cup champion Florida Panthers to seven games.
Some of the collapse traces back to the Mitch Marner departure in free agency, which left Matthews, William Nylander, and John Tavares to try to carry a top-heavy lineup that ran out of gas by winter.
Matthews himself gave a vague answer about his own future when asked on Thursday. The captain said he does not know what the club’s new leadership or management will look like.
Berube carries an 84-62-18 regular-season record across his two years behind the Toronto bench. That track record should earn him a conversation with Pelley and the next general manager. Whether it earns him a third year is a separate question, and the answer could come quickly.
