The Toronto Maple Leafs could be missing out on one rumored coaching candidate, thanks to a major decision by the Vancouver Canucks.
The Canucks fired Adam Foote on Tuesday, ending speculation about what direction the organization would take after hiring Ryan Johnson as their next GM. In what seemed to be Johnson’s first order of business, the organization moved on from Foote after just one season.
The move likely opens the door for Vancouver to promote Manny Malhotra from the AHL to the NHL. Malhotra, who was a former assistant coach in Toronto, won a Calder Cup with the Abbotsford Canucks last season.
When the NHL Canucks lost Rick Tocchet at the end of last season, part of the chatter was that Malhotra would get promoted. The organization went with Foote in an attempt to appease Quinn Hughes.
That didn’t work, and now it seems like Malhotra could be the guy in Vancouver moving forward.
Malhotra has been one of the names floating around the Maple Leafs’ coaching search. Insider Elliotte Friedman dropped his name as a potential replacement for Craig Berube. And while the former NHL star would make sense, it makes even more sense for the Canucks to promote him.
If and when that happens, the Maple Leafs may have to think outside the box to find their next head coaching candidate.
Could Foote become an option for Maple Leafs?
With the coaching carousel being the way it is in the NHL, questions about Foote becoming an option for the Maple Leafs should pick up at one point or another.
At this point, you can’t discount anyone from being an option. As Friedman and other pundits have noted, the Canucks put Foote in a tough spot. The organization hoped that hiring a notable defensive-minded coach, one who had a good relationship with Quinn Hughes, would be enough to turn the ship around and keep the superstar blueliner.
The circumstances ended up going against Foote, turning him into the main culprit for the Canucks’ dismal season.
That said, could a fresh start elsewhere allow Foote one more kick at the NHL can?
It’s possible. The Maple Leafs may want to do their due diligence on Foote. He’s certainly an experienced candidate. While the Leafs may want to swing for the fences, Foote would make sense insofar as bringing in a coach who could keep the team from going to hell in a handbasket.
The betting odds would be very long on the Leafs choosing Foote. But with Malhotra likely coming off the board and David Carle not exactly being a sure thing, Toronto will have to look into other alternatives.
And Adam Foote may just be one of them.
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