The Toronto Maple Leafs fired head coach Craig Berube on Wednesday and are already on the lookout to bring in someone to be the new bench boss.
With so many other teams around the league needing a new head coach as well, the Leafs are not wasting any time whatsoever and are reportedly already wanting to give some candidates a call.
Elliotte Friedman connects Manny Malhotra to Leafs coach vacancy
In a brief radio hit with Sportnet's The FAN Hockey Show on Thursday, Elliotte Friedman specifically mentioned who the Leafs are interested in giving a call and seeing if there is a fit.
"The guy they want to talk to is Manny Malhotra," Friedman said.
He was then asked if there is interest from other teams in the league with coaching vacancies, such as the Los Angeles Kings, in bringing in Malhotra. Friedman made it clear why there is a connection to Toronto.
"I know Toronto because it sure sounds like on some level -- it might have been only a cursory level -- but on some level, his name was brought up once in some of the Toronto interviews. I'm sure there will be other people interested in Malhotra. I have no doubt. He's got a great reputation. He won a Calder Cup last year. But I know in Toronto's case, I've been told his name came up like in one of those 'If you make a change, what kind of person would appeal to you?'"
Malhotra, of course, has already been on the Toronto bench. Before becoming the head coach of the AHL's Abbotsford Canucks, he served as an assitant coach for the Leafs under Sheldon Keefe for four seasons, from 2020 to 2024. It was some of the best hockey we've seen in Toronto in decades, and he was a big part of the coaching staff there.
And now, there might be a reunion.
Malhotra is one of the premier young and exciting names around the coaching world right now and it certainly seems like, if he wanted, he could be an NHL head coach as soon as next season. If not in Toronto, someone will give him a shot.
But it really should be the Leafs. While he's never been a head coach in the NHL before, he knows how to be on the bench in this league with seven years of assistant experience, and of course his extensive history as a player with almost 1,000 games played in his career.
It would fit this new-look Leafs team fairly well as they look to go with a more forward-thinking approach, but still with some roots in NHL experience. It could all line up just perfectly for a match made in heaven.
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