Top potential Sheldon Keefe replacements for Maple Leafs head coach

It was the news that surprised absolutely nobody.

After five seasons and four first-round playoff exits, 43-year-old Sheldon Keefe was fired as head coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs on Thursday after a run that included a 212-97-40 record, five playoff appearances and one division title.

Keefe’s teams performed well during the regular season, hitting the 100-point mark in each of the last three years, but struggled once they got to the playoffs.

The only time the Leafs advanced to the second round under Keefe came in 2022, after which they were promptly dispatched in five games by the Florida Panthers while averaging just two goals per game, down nearly a goal-and-a-half from what they were scoring during the regular season.

“I didn’t get it done in the playoffs, I didn’t help push our team over the line and deliver,” Keefe said in a video posted to his X account. “I accept responsibility for that. No excuses. That’s the job, I didn’t get it done.”

Below is a list of some of the top candidates to potentially succeed Keefe as Maple Leafs coach.

Craig Berube

It’s been speculated for some time now if Keefe were to be fired that former St. Louis Blues HC Berube would be the front-runner to replace him. Berube has a proven NHL track record, winning a Stanley Cup in 2019 with the Blues and making the playoffs in five of the eight seasons he has coached. 

Expected to be a hot commodity during the upcoming NHL coaching cycle, Berube has a career points percentage of 58.4 and is only five years removed from winning a Cup. Berube is a no-nonsense coach who takes a hard-nosed approach to winning. He could be just what the toiling Maple Leafs need as they look to make another run at a Cup with their expensive, yet underperforming core of players.

Jay Woodcroft

Woodcroft seemed to get a raw deal having been fired by the Edmonton Oilers just 13 games into the 2023 season. Sure, the Edmonton Oilers were just 3-9-1 during that stretch, but they won 11 of their next 14 games once the team's goaltending settled down and the offense hit its stride.

After taking over at the Oilers lead midway through the 2021-22 season (after the team fired Dave Tippett), Woodcroft led Edmonton to a 26-9-3 record and got them to their first conference final since 2005. Sure, he only has two-plus years of NHL head-coaching experience, but Woodcroft’s work with superstars like Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl could bode well for maximizing Toronto's talent. 

Karl Taylor

If Toronto wants to swing for the fences and take a bit of a risk, Taylor is its guy. The Leafs were targeting Taylor last season for an assistant coaching job, so there’s already a familiarity between him and the organization.

Taylor has a 204-112-43 record as head coach of the Milwaukee Admirals, the AHL affiliate of the Nashville Predators. The Admirals had the third-most wins in the AHL during the regular season and they set a franchise record with wins in 19 straight game – the second-longest win streak in league history. Taylor has been close to landing his first NHL head-coaching job for the last few years and this may be the year it finally happens.

Claude Julien

Julien is another experienced winner, but it’s been a lot longer since he won his Stanley Cup championship than Berube (Julien won it all with the Boston Bruins in 2011.) He made the playoffs in 10 of his 19 seasons coaching – Julien last coached in the NHL with the Montreal Canadiens during the 2020-21 season – and his teams are all about playing disciplined hockey.

Julien’s rigid personality may clash with the likes of Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, William Nylander and John Tavares, but there’s no question if Toronto wants its next head coach to be experienced, there’s few out there who match up with Julien. 

Gerard Gallant

Gallant has led three of the four teams he has coached to the playoffs, including leading the Vegas Golden Knights to the Stanley Cup Final during their expansion season in 2017. Gallant made the playoffs in five of his last seven seasons and his teams reached the 100-point plateaus in three of his last five years, with his most recent coaching gig in the NHL coming with the New York Rangers in 2022-23.

Gallant won immediately with both Vegas and the New York Rangers and with a career points percentage close to 60%, there's a possibility he could easily step in and make a seamless transition from Keefe to help keep the Leafs’ Cup window open.