Toronto Maple Leafs: 3 Candidates that Could Replace Paul McFarland
Toronto Maple Leafs assistant coach Paul McFarland will be leaving the organization at the conclusion of this season.
The Friday morning announcement was a surprising one, as McFarland was hired by the Toronto Maple Leafs just last summer to work with the power play and forward units.
At the time of the hiring, it seemed like a long-term decision due to his age and relative NHL inexperience.
Instead, it’s one and done for McFarland in Toronto as he returns to the Kingston Frontenacs as head coach, where he will look to continue to work towards an NHL head coaching job.
This decision leaves the Toronto Maple Leafs in an unexpected situation this off-season, where the coaching staff was one of the few areas we didn’t anticipate any changes.
Now, there’s an opening in a significant role, where the incoming candidate will likely take over the forward group and power play, just as McFarland had when he replaced Jim Hiller last year.
As it stands today, the market for a new assistant coach is murky. When we reach the true offseason, teams will make their own firings and hirings which will create more candidates and openings. This was just the case last offseason, where the Leafs got McFarland when he was let go by the Panthers.
Still, there are a handful of intriguing candidates that Toronto could potentially target already. Just looking back at their recent assistant coach hirings, we can get an idea as to where the Leafs will look for their new assistant.
Since 2014, the Toronto Maple Leafs have hired six different assistant coaches. Paul McFarland and Jim Hiller were assistants for other teams, Dave Hakstol was a recently fired NHL head coach, D.J. Smith was an OHL head coach, Peter Horachek was an AHL head coach and interim NHL head coach, and Steve Spott was promoted from Marlies head coach.
Taking this into account, we can see that recently, the Toronto Maple Leafs haven’t had one specific type they’ve targeted. They’ve brought in other assistants, former head coaches, looked down to junior, and promoted in-house all in just the past six years.
Given the range Toronto has elected to go with over the past few years, let’s take a look at some candidates from all across the board, beginning with the youngest head coach in the OHL.
Candidate #1: Eric Wellwood, Flint Firebirds (Head Coach)
He may be barely 30 years old, but Eric Wellwood already has a strong coaching resume under his belt.
Wellwood was a Philadelphia Flyers prospect back in 2013 when his playing career came to a sudden and gruesome conclusion.
While playing in the AHL, Wellwood suffered a laceration that severed his Achilles tendon, an injury that nearly killed him from blood loss. He was forced to retire a year later, never playing another pro game.
At just 25 years of age and his playing career behind him, Wellwood was hired by former Toronto Maple Leafs assistant D.J. Smith to join the Oshawa Generals staff in 2014-15 as an assistant.
There, he was on the bench for an OHL championship and a Memorial Cup in his first season, before Smith took the aforementioned role with the Leafs.
He remained on the Generals bench for 2015-16 before being hired as an assistant for the Flint Firebirds in 2016-17. This came just after Flint’s owner nightmare, where Rolf Nilsen had fired, re-hired, and re-fired Flint’s coaching staff.
When the OHL took over the search for the new staff, Wellwood and his two successful seasons in Oshawa earned him the new job. In that first year in Flint, head coach Ryan Oulahen and Wellwood led the Firebirds to their best season and a first playoff birth.
Wellwood would then take a season off from coaching to pursue a business opportunity with his brother (yes, former Leaf Kyle Wellwood), before getting back behind the bench with the University of Windsor in 2018.
That was short-lived, however, as in October 2018, the Flint Firebirds came calling looking for a new head coach when Oulahen left for the North Bay Battalion. Wellwood took the gig and has blossomed alongside a resurgent Firebirds team.
His first season was a tough one with a very weak Flint roster. When he took over the team, the Firebirds had lost 11 straight to start the season. They would finish second-worst in the OHL in a season that was over from the get-go, but Wellwood’s job didn’t really start until Year 2.
Given an offseason to truly prepare and build a roster with GM Barclay Branch, Flint emerged as a top contender in the OHL in 2019-20, setting franchise marks in wins, points, and goals scored even with five unplayed games at the cancellation of the OHL season due to the coronavirus.
Adding a 30-year-old with two seasons of head coaching experience to an NHL bench may seem out there, but the Leafs showed just this season that they are not scared of youth and inexperience if they believe in someone as a candidate.
Kyle Dubas and co. replaced Sheldon Keefe with Greg Moore when Keefe was promoted to the Leafs gig. Moore was 35 at the time of the hiring, but notably had just a season and a quarter of experience as a head coach in the USHL with the Chicago Steel.
Wellwood provides a similar resume to Moore as a young, relatively inexperienced but promising coaching prospect.
Given his previous relationship with D.J. Smith, his success with Oshawa, and the incredible job he has done with Flint helping turn them from the laughing stock of the league to one of the contending teams, Eric Wellwood could be a sneaky candidate for the Toronto Maple Leafs available job.
Candidate #2: Ryan Craig, Vegas Golden Knights (Assistant Coach)
In seeking a new assistant coach, the Toronto Maple Leafs will be likely be looking for someone offensive-minded that isn’t afraid to try new things.
If they look to snag a current assistant from another club, look no further than Vegas’ Ryan Craig.
Another younger coach at 38 years of age, Craig’s coaching experience consists of three seasons as an assistant on the Golden Knights’ bench. A day-one member of their staff, Craig has seen a significant amount of success with his power play and forward units.
Over the past three seasons, Vegas’ power play ranks fourth in expected goals per 60 at 7.43. Though Toronto, Carolina, and San Jose rank ahead of Craig’s unit, the key here is the consistency which the Golden Knights have had.
Vegas’ power play has had a nearly identical xGF/60 rate each year under Craig. Going from 7.43 in 2017-18, to 7.45 in 2018-19, and 7.40 this year, that level of consistency is simply unheard of.
In regards to progressive thinking, just look back to the final minute of regulation in the Golden Knights’ 2019 Game Seven loss to the Sharks.
Vegas sent out six forwards in an all-out attempt to tie the game, something we rarely see from NHL teams. William Karlsson, Jonathan Marchessault, Max Pacioretty, Reilly Smith, Paul Stastny, and Mark Stone were on the ice to tie the game, a strategy that the Leafs looked to implement last season at times.
On multiple occasions, Toronto’s coaching staff sent out an all forward lineup when pursuing a goal. For example, we saw it on the 4-on-3 winning overtime power play against Ottawa back on February 1 (Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, William Nylander, and John Tavares).
The key here is Vegas’ current coaching situation. Gerard Gallant, who originally hired Craig, was fired this season in favour of Peter DeBoer. If DeBoer wants his own assistants, Craig could potentially be on the open market (similar to McFarland being fired so Joel Quenneville could bring in his own staff in Florida).
Additionally, Craig’s contract is not publically known and if he’s a free agent, Toronto could swoop in and lure him to the organization.
Either way, Ryan Craig is one of the top candidates for the Toronto Maple Leafs vacancy on paper and if the situation aligns for Toronto, it would not be surprising to see Craig on the bench with Sheldon Keefe and Dave Hakstol in 2020-21.
Candidate #3: Bruce Boudreau, Free Agent
As yes, you already knew good ole Brucey was going to be on this list.
A former Toronto Maple Leafs player and not so subtle massive fan of the team, Boudreau is one of the top coaches without a job today.
Now, it’s a longshot to convince a coach with the resume of Boudreau’s to take a job as an assistant, but there are multiple factors that could play into the Leafs favour.
For starters, let’s break down the current head coaching vacancies.
Each of Calgary, Dallas, Minnesota, New Jersey, and San Jose is operating with an interim head coach, plus the Seattle expansion franchise which will be looking to hire a head coach in the coming months.
We can immediately rule out Minnesota as they fired Boudreau. Calgary seems to like Geoff Ward and has made no indication they’ll be looking elsewhere. New Jersey rebounded under Alain Nasreddine, but have interviewed outside candidates Gerard Gallant and John Stevens. The Devils could be a contender but to this point haven’t been linked to Boudreau.
San Jose is a wild card, given their older and quickly declining roster. The players there love Bob Boughner, the current interim head coach, and their roster construction makes them a less than desirable landing spot.
The true threats lie in Dallas and Seattle.
The Stars are a team in their prime and only have a vacancy due to Jim Montgomery‘s off-ice issues. Rick Bowness may be the fit there, but I can’t imagine Boudreau passing on the Dallas gig if the offer were on the table. Similarly, Vegas’ immediate success makes the Seattle franchise an attractive one. Seattle will likely have their pick of the litter and if Boudreau is their guy, I doubt he says no.
Of course, there are the inevitable openings that will come open in the offseason as well that the Toronto Maple Leafs will have to fight with.
But take all of this into account, and there are two key factors that make the Leafs a contender for Boudreau regardless. Money and fandom.
Boudreau has made it no secret that he is still a Leafs fan when it doesn’t impact the club he currently works for. In fact, he’s said that nearly word for word publically.
If there were any team that could attract a name as big as Boudreau’s to be an assistant, it would be the Leafs. They have built-in attraction and deep pockets to make it work.
In terms of why the Toronto Maple Leafs would even want Boudreau on the bench, it’s hard to say no to that level of experience.
Though Hakstol has been a head coach in his own right, it pales in comparison to Boudreau’s 13 years as the main man on an NHL bench. Adding that kind of experience would help immensely to a staff that currently has just six years combined between them.
Boudreau has been successful everywhere he has gone as well, leading some of the best regular seasons teams over the past 15 years in Washington and Anaheim.
The heartbreak he has been on the wrong side of over his career in the playoffs certainly makes Boudreau even more hard-working and determined to get over the playoff hurdle.
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