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Toronto Maple Leafs: Changes Behind the Bench Needed

By Jeremy Ridgewell |
TORONTO, ON - APRIL 13: Head coach Sheldon Keefe of the Toronto Maple Leafs watches the action late in the game against the Calgary Flames during an NHL game at Scotiabank Arena on April 13, 2021 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Flames defeated the Maple Leafs 3-2 in overtime. (Photo by Claus Andersen/Getty Images)
TORONTO, ON - APRIL 13: Head coach Sheldon Keefe of the Toronto Maple Leafs watches the action late in the game against the Calgary Flames during an NHL game at Scotiabank Arena on April 13, 2021 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Flames defeated the Maple Leafs 3-2 in overtime. (Photo by Claus Andersen/Getty Images)

After some strong criticism, will we be seeing some new faces behind the Toronto Maple Leafs bench when the 2021-22 NHL regular season starts?

We will surely be seeing more than one new face on the ice when the season starts as Toronto general manager Kyle Dubas continues to look for answers.

As well as some new players joining the team, we could also see a new face or two behind the bench. Both Dave Hakstol, and Manny Malhotra received a ton of criticism during the second half of the season.

Malhotra received the most criticism for the team’s horrible power play. a power play that started well, but then became almost non-existent in the second half of the season.

On Saturday, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet mentioned that Toronto’s assistant coaches have received interest from other NHL clubs. If one or both of Hakstol and Malhotra leave, who will Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe have working with him behind the bench?

Toronto Maple Leafs Assistant Coaching Options

1) Bruce Boudreau

Obviously, Bruce Boudreau would love one more crack at being an NHL head coach. Since being fired from the Minnesota Wild in February 2020, the 66-year-old has not been given any opportunities to do that yet.

When the Toronto Maple Leafs were looking for new assistant coaches in the last off-season, Boudreau’s name came up as a possibility. This is intriguing because Boudreau has mentioned in the past that he is not interested in assistant coaching jobs unless it is with Toronto.

Toronto is Boudreau’s hometown, the Maple Leafs are his favourite team, and he was even a third-round pick of the Maple Leafs in 1975. He wants to see this team win just as badly as the rest of Leafs Nation.

If he doesn’t receive a head coaching job this off-season, he could find himself assisting Keefe behind the Maple Leafs bench.

2) Kirk Muller

Kirk Muller played 19 seasons in the NHL from 1984 to 2003. He won a Stanley Cup as a member of the 1993 Montreal Canadiens. He also played 102 games for the Toronto Maple Leafs in parts of two seasons.

Muller began his coaching career in 2006 with the Queen’s University Golden Gaels in his hometown of Kingston Ontario.  On June 20th, 2006 he was hired by the Montreal Canadiens to be an assistant coach.

He then moved on to be the head coach of the Milwaukee Admirals of the American Hockey League (AHL) on June 27th, 2011. That gig did not last long as was hired by the Carolina Hurricanes to be their head coach on November 28th, 2011 after the team fired Paul Maurice.

Since leaving the Hurricanes organization, Muller has been an assistant coach with the St. Louis Blues, and a second stint in Montreal most recently. Many thought that Muller was next in line to be the head coach of the Canadiens after Claude Julien, but when Julien was fired this season, Muller was let go along with him.

I think Keefe, and the Maple Leafs player would benefit from having Muller’s experience behind an NHL bench. (Note: While we wish that the Leafs could have gotten Muller, it turns out that the Flames hired him the other day and we missed the news.  We apologize for any inconvenience.)

Next. 4 Free Agents Still Playing the Leafs Could Target. dark

I do think that the Leaf’s coaching staff needs a shake-up. I think one of Boudreau or muller would be a great benefit to the players in Toronto. If the team could somehow manage to hire both Muller and Boudreau, then I think the team would be in good hands and might start seeing some success.

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