The Toronto Maple Leafs are looking under every single rock on planet Earth to find their next head coach. But one of the prime candidates for the job needs a big sell job and the Leafs seem to be delivering.
David Carle is the hottest prospect in the coaching world. The University of Denver bench boss has won three NCAA national titles and two World Juniors, and he's accomplished all of that while being just 36 years old. There is a feeling like the sky is the limit for him.
The only problem is that he's basically secured a job for life at Denver and it will take some extreme convincing for him to leave that comfortable position and uproot his young family to go into the NHL.
But the Leafs are still trying and there have reportedly been multiple interviews between the team and the young head coach.
Latest report on David Carle possibly joining Maple Leafs
And now the latest report we have is from ESPN's Emily Kaplan, who says that there is real interest from Toronto (of course) but there seems to also be some strong interest in the position from Carle.
"The Maple Leafs have real interest in coach David Carle and he seems to be at least entertaining it. But he has been highly selective about making the jump to the NHL and has never wanted to do it just for the sake of it," Kaplan writes.
"Part of that is the cutthroat nature of NHL coaching contracts. He already has one of the best jobs in hockey at the University of Denver, where he has built a powerhouse with the stability and control few NHL coaches ever get."
While the assumption would be that if Carle is taking multiple calls from the Leafs, he would be "entertaining" it, it's good to see it in writing from one of the most trusted reporters in the hockey world.
As Kaplan outlines, Carle is just so comfortable and has the best job security in all of hockey, so it is going to take so much for him to leave that to then take a job in the NHL, where they can almost immediately sour on him and he could be out of a job in three or four years.
If it is life-changing money, something like $30 million to make that jump? Maybe he could be convinced, but it might take some hard negotiating from the Leafs' point-of-view.
There's also the question about whether or not Carle can even handle a professional coaching job, since he's only had experience in the college world so far. So, is that kind of investment really warranted? Or are the Leafs just better getting someone like Jay Woodcroft, who has proven to be a solid NHL coach?
These are the questions the Leafs are most likely pondering right now.
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