The next Maple Leaf head coach: a pivotal choice…

While it’s easy to criticize the Maple Leaf coaching tenures of Ron Wilson and Randy Carlyle (and Paul Maurice, for that matter), each came to town with a fairly sterling reputation.  Maurice had been the longtime coach of the Hurricanes, taking them to the Cup finals in 2002—eliminating the Maple Leafs along the way that spring. (Still a bitter memory for me and likely for many of you as well.) Wilson helped lead three different franchises—Anaheim, Washington and San Jose—into the playoffs before coming to the Leafs. And Carlyle, like Wilson a former Leaf defenseman as a player, had coached the Ducks to a Stanley Cup not that long before taking over here.

All had moments when it looked like Leafs had turned a corner, but ultimately none was able to win a playoff round with a roster that was sometimes fast and talented, but apparently lacking some of the ingredients needed to be a serious contender for the playoffs every season. (We've talked about those attributes endlessly here...grit, leadership, hating to lose, etc.)

Now, under Brendan Shanahan, the Leafs obviously face a rather important decision: whom should they sign to run the bench going forward?

Yes, ideally the new General Manager would make that call, as it’s always a recipe for disaster if the GM and coach are not on the same page.  And it’s hard to be on the same page if the coach is hired before the GM.

But, I think a lot of fans, like me, believe that Shanahan is so intent on acting like a “super GM” that I don’t know how independent the new General Manager can really be. I sense Shanahan will run the coaching interviews and, whether or not the current assistant GMs are promoted from within to take over the top job here, they will have a significant voice in who the next coach of the Maple Leafs will be.

We all know the names that are out there:  Mike Babcock is the obvious one, with a Stanley Cup on his resume. He is seemingly universally well regarded in the hockey community. While I like Babcock, I’m not necessarily on the Babcock bandwagon.  To me, his success in Detroit is not what it should have been over the last decade, given the roster he has been handed year in and year out, and the successful legacy he inherited.  That said, it’s not difficult to assume that Shanahan would sign him in a heartbeat if Babcock is indeed interested in a change of scenery.

Todd McLellan is another “big name” available at the moment (at least last time I checked). He cut his teeth in Detroit as an assistant, and had a nice run with the Sharks though, like his San Jose predecessors, always saw his team hit a wall come playoff time. Losing to the Kings a year ago (it was last season, right?) after being up three games to none was perhaps an indication that his time was running short on the coast.  Who knows what might have happened if the Kings didn’t have that miracle turnaround? McLellan will likely be interviewed by a number of clubs looking for a coach (Sabres, Edmonton, Philly, etc.)

I can’t imagine Shanahan would seek out John Tortorella, but the lightning rod coach certainly gained a lot of notoriety during his time with Tampa, New York and Vancouver—for a range of reasons.  He pushed players hard, demanded effort (and lots of blocked shots). By most accounts he certainly wasn’t an overwhelmingly well-liked coach from the players' perspective, but he had success and won that championship in Tampa.  He is too acerbic for my liking, and his media relationships here would no doubt be testy and sarcastic at best.  But maybe he’s on the list of candidates, who knows?

Am I remembering correctly that former Florida and New Jersey coach Peter DeBoer is available, too?  He was on the "hot list" a few years ago.  Recently dismissed Sabre coach Ted Nolan gets an awful lot out of middlish rosters. I've always thought he is a guy who has demonstrated he can motivate underachievers.

In addition to recently fired NHL coaches looking for their next gig, there are always up and coming assistant coaches and minor league coaches looking to earn their first NHL head coaching assignment. Some years back, teams started a trend of looking at minor league coaches, like Boudreau and Dan Bylsma and both of those guys have had great NHL success. So maybe the Leafs are looking at AHLers who are waiting in the wings.

Other names? Bruce Boudreau fits into the "ex-Leaf player" category, which has not always worked that well over the years, though the Leafs were an annual contender under the finest Leaf coach of this era, Pat Quinn, who had played for the blue and white in the late 1960s. Boudreau, who played here off and on in the mid '70s,  would be an intriguing choice if the Ducks didn't advance further and he became available. I'd certainly talk to him if I was Shanahan.  Boudreau seems to get a lot out of his players, and he would have a positive disposition with the media- a helpful attribute in this often toxic market.

Would Dallas Eakins draw any interest?  I wonder.  He has no seeming connection to Shanahan, and like many before him, couldn’t get all those high draft picks in Edmonton to resemble a successful roster in his short time in Northern Alberta. But he was a well-respected figure during his time with the Leaf organization as the head coach of the Marlies.  Does his stint in Edmonton disqualify him?

It’s funny.  It always seems to be the case that if a team just fired a coach because he was too much of a “player’s coach”, the next guy in town will naturally be a taskmaster. If a guy is seen to have pushed too hard, it’s likely the new person will be a good communicator, a “listener”, etc. 

Either way, in the early days of any new coach’s regime, we will hear how much the players like the new guy, implying that he is very different from the previous coach.  (Hey, players will always make sure the blame goes elsewhere, eh?  It’s never them, though they always mouth the words, "it's on us...".)

So who are the other individuals the Leafs may be thinking about?  More importantly, as you assess the coaching landscape as a Leaf supporter, is there one individual that you truly feel would be the “must get” candidate for the Leafs? What are the qualities we need next time around? Do we need a “proven” winner?  A great communicator?  An x’s and o’s guy?  A motivator?

The Leafs have managed to sell fans on yet another rebuild.  For this organization—ownership and management—to retain any credibility at all, their summertime moves will have to pan out.

If not, can we ever believe them again?