Could Mitch Love be Joining the Toronto Maple Leafs Coaching Staff?

The Toronto Maple Leafs could be looking for a new coach for the Marlies.

Or maybe the Toronto Maple Leafs are looking for a new coach to replace Sheldon Keefe.

At this point we don’t know.

Often times when a new general manager joins a team, they end up bringing over staff they have worked with in the past.

After the Toronto Maple Leafs hired Brad Treliving as their general manager, he started that trend by bringing in Shane Doan who he used to be a part of the Coyotes organization with. I don’t think Treliving’s done bringing over some familiar faces, so let’s take a look at another name that could be headed to Toronto.

Mitch Love Could Join the Toronto Maple Leafs Coaching Staff?

The Leafs currently have a vacant position open on their coaching staff because Spencer Carberry left the organization to become the Washington Capitals’ head coach.

This leaves a powerplay coaching position open as well, and we still haven’t heard news officially on Treliving’s plans with current head coach Sheldon Keefe either.

Mitch Love would be a solid candidate to join the Leafs organization as either an assistant coach or even the head coach if Keefe were to be let go.  The Leafs also recently fired their entire Marlies coaching staff and have not yet filled the vacancies.

Love is coming off of two consecutive wins for Coach of the Year in the AHL with the Calgary Wranglers. This past season the Wranglers held an impressive record of 51-17 in 72 games. Love has had a solid team in front of him for sure and a stellar goaltender in Dustin Wolf, but he has helped to get the most out of his players.

Now I’m sure with back-to-back Coach of the Year awards in the AHL Love will have interest from multiple teams, but the connection to Treliving will definitely help in Toronto’s case. I doubt there would be many NHL head coaching options for Love around the NHL, but if Keefe were to be let go, I’d think Love would be a candidate to replace him.

Even if Keefe were to start out with the Leafs as head coach, Love joining the Leafs staff would give him a fast-track to an NHL head coaching gig if Keefe were to underperform and not get it done in the playoffs next year.

Other than the connection with Treliving, there are obvious benefits of joining the Leafs coaching staff, even if it’s in an assistant role. We can see multiple examples of assistant coaches for the Toronto Maple Leafs landing NHL head coaching gigs. Most recently there’s Carberry getting hired by the Capitals, D.J. Smith becoming head coach of the Senators, and even Dave Hakstol getting a head coaching job with the Kraken.

From both sides, it makes sense for Mitch Love to join the Toronto Maple Leafs whether as an assistant coach or head coach. Keep an eye on Love as we await news on the Leafs coaching hires.