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Leafs part ways with Berube

Who are the coaches that you'd trust to do all of (1) work with superstars both peaking and peaked, (2) successfully develop younger talents, (3) get the most of the roster by adopting whatever play style or systems suit the talent available, and (4) be someone players would want to come to Toronto to play with?

Those seem to me to be the most important traits TO needs at this juncture.
 
mr grieves said:
Who are the coaches that you'd trust to do all of (1) work with superstars both peaking and peaked, (2) successfully develop younger talents, (3) get the most of the roster by adopting whatever play style or systems suit the talent available, and (4) be someone players would want to come to Toronto to play with?

Those seem to me to be the most important traits TO needs at this juncture.
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The more I think about it the more Jay Woodcroft jumps to the top of the list for me. 1) Got career years out of McDavid/Drai/RNH/Hyman in 22/23, 2) Oilers weren't exactly loaded with young talent but did coach pretty much all their good recent prospects both in the AHL and NHL (Bouchard, McLeod, Yamamoto, Holloway, Broberg), 3) he's a young analytically-inclined coach who I think will be able to exist in tandem with Chayka and his vision for the team, and 4) well I know one pretty good player who by all accounts really enjoyed playing for him that could be available in a couple years...

edit: worth noting too that Woodcroft spent 7 years as an assistant coach with the Thornton+Marleau-era Sharks. We know how much Matthews respects those two and they would potentially have nice things to say about him.
 
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mr grieves said:
Who are the coaches that you'd trust to do all of (1) work with superstars both peaking and peaked, (2) successfully develop younger talents, (3) get the most of the roster by adopting whatever play style or systems suit the talent available, and (4) be someone players would want to come to Toronto to play with?

Those seem to me to be the most important traits TO needs at this juncture.
Click to expand...

1, 3 are the higher priorities to me to focus on; maximizing Matthews/Nylander style puck might not be a long-term playoff winning strategy, but it'll crank up their value for the eventual rebuild, and/or accidentally win a Cup in the meantime. This feeds into 4 (Connor, come home).

2 should be handled at the dev and assistant coach levels. Coach just needs to have an open mind about what opportunities to open up for them, and GM needs to find servicable depth that sets an NHL floor for the baby buds to overtake.
 
I am now reminded that there is a coach out there with experience coaching both Matthews and McDavid on the same team. #fasstholes

Edit: the segment at 26:00 breaking down how they approached Finland’s very stout DZ structure that let you happily fondle pucks on the perimeter is what I’m looking for
 
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Not going to find specific tactics in these videos but more team philosophy and fit. Carle has experience that goes beyond head coaching because college hockey requires a recruitment element and building out a program that can withstand the transient nature of the rosters.

My sense is, based on Chayka’s stalwart efforts to not say anything and couched in corporate jargon, the Leafs are looking to establish something like that. He wants the drafting and scouting and development to be the foundation of the operation and work in machine like fashion. They all need to target specific types of players and personnel that can play a consistent but flexible system that is the Leaf identity.

Carolina and Tampa and Colorado (and more recently Florida) have longtime coaches that have a core system that players in the system have been indoctrinated in and know so well they can adjust on the fly to suit matchups. The Leafs can’t get there with short term mercenary coaches that implement a my-way-or-the-highway game. It looks like they want to build an enterprise, not some random startup that is entirely driven by a single founder’s decisions.
 
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