Jeremy Bettle Reportedly Leaves the Toronto Maple Leafs

As the Toronto Maple Leafs head into an offseason of significant change, the first domino appears to have fallen off of the ice.

According to a report by The Athletic’s James Mirtle from earlier today, former Maple Leafs Director of Sports Science and Performance, Dr Jeremy Bettle, has left the organization after four seasons. The specifics behind this parting of ways have yet to be determined.

News of Bettle’s unexpected departure may not carry the media-friendly weight of an on-ice exit, but it is a significant blow nonetheless. Bettle played a vital role in the Leafs organization. His presence was influential, and his newly-felt absence leaves a sizeable gap in the Leafs hierarchy which needs to be filled.

Hired back in 2015, Bettle joined the Maple Leafs at a time of rapid advancement, signalling the organization’s newfound commitment to overall excellence at every possible corner, on-ice and otherwise. In the years since, Bettle has proceeded to institute the vaunted Sports Science division which Toronto is well-known for today, serving as the lynchpin throughout.

The team’s results from Bettle’s tenure are indisputable.

According to data compiled by NHLInjuryViz, the Maple Leafs consistently finished among the NHL’s bottom three teams each season in terms of CHIP (Cap Hit of Injured Players) from the 2016-17 campaign – when the team opted against their former practice of shutting down players midseason – until this current one. Only the Washington Capitals can claim to have experienced a similar level of consistency over that period.

Bettle brought to the Maple Leafs what they had lacked for so long; consistency. And while CHIP is by no means the be-all-end-all stat for determining any team’s overall health, it nevertheless stands as proof of Bettle’s ability to keep Toronto’s most important (read: most expensive) players on the ice.

Finding Bettle’s replacement will not be a simple process.

Given the information at their disposal today, athletes value their health more so than practically any other commodity. Their livelihood depends on it, after all. In fact, the maintenance of one’s health is more or less the shaping factor of an athlete’s longevity and, perhaps more importantly, dictates their long-term ability to earn an income in their respective profession. Needless to say, a player’s relationship between himself and his team’s medical staff is of the utmost importance, necessitating the construction of a mutual trust in order for both sides to operate sufficiently.

Just look at what Kawhi Leonard has gone through over the past 24 months, for example. His prior saga with the medical staff in San Antonio offers a glaring testament, a glimpse into what the breakdown of this trust can ignite; career-threatening injuries, franchise-altering exits, etc.

For the entirety of their NHL careers, players like Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner and William Nylander have placed their livelihoods in the hands of Dr Jeremy Bettle. His expertise – on a day-to-day basis, at least – is all they have known. This assuredly led to an established trust between Bettle and Toronto’s most vital young pillars, one which now must be replicated with an entirely different professional as each player heads into a season of sky-high expectations.

Moreover, the Bettle-led sports science division served as an attractive recruitment tool for Toronto to wield. Tyler Ennis, for example, is one of its most glowing admirers, publically praising the breadth of resources afforded to him by the Maple Leafs shortly after signing with the team in July of 2018, and then moving to Toronto shortly thereafter in order to take full advantage prior to training camp.

Ennis would gon on to post his highest regular season goal total since 2014-15.

So, where do the Maple Leafs go from here? That is the million dollar question.

Kyle Dubas could very well opt for an internal replacement in Dr Meg Popovic, whom he hired last summer to serve as the Leafs Director of Athlete Wellbeing and Performance, or seek a fresh presence in the form of outside candidates.

“Outside”, mind you, does not necessarily mean from another NHL team. Bettle was initially poached by the Leafs back in 2015 from the Brooklyn Nets, and Dubas’ interest in the inner workings of the other three major North American sports is well known. He sees them as indicators of where hockey is headed, offering a competitive advantage.

Perhaps the NBA could be the next pool Dubas chooses to pick from.

Regardless, Bettle’s exit adds yet another influential decision for Dubas to make in a summer filled with them.

Thanks for reading!