The Toronto Maple Leafs have been searching for a new head coach for the last few weeks ever since they fired Craig Berube from the position earlier this month. But now, it appears that they are close to making an announcement of them hiring one of the most exciting names in the coaching world in some time, if we are to believe some reports.
David Carle has been on everybody's mind in the hockey world. At just 36 years old, he's won three NCAA national championships with the University of Denver and two World Junior gold medals for Team USA. He clearly knows how to make young players work and win a whole lot.
Now, the question has been whether or not he's going to make a jump to the NHL.
The Leafs have been in hot pursuit of Carle. They have reportedly held multiple video calls with the head coach prospect and there has been some interest from Carle's side as well. Even as other exciting names like Jay Woodcroft have now been squashed as potential candidates for the job, Carle has remained a name in reports about the Leafs' coaching search for the entire time -- and really has been the only concrete name so far.
And it looks like they could be closing in on making it official and bringing one of the hottest coaching candidates to Toronto.
Leafs reportedly close to hiring David Carle
According to The Toronto Star's Jonah Sigel, the Leafs will eventually name Carle as head coach.
It's Sat night , I'm in a good mood. 3 things I believe or I've been told. These are NOT rumors:
— Jonah Sigel | Sports media + streaming (@yyzsportsmedia) May 31, 2026
1. Chris MacFarland will end up in Nashville - big promotion & bigger raise
2. Morgan Riley will agree to get dealt to San Jose
3. The Leafs will name David Carle head coach
Now, we can choose to believe it or not. Sigel has broken some news before but he deals more with the sports media business side, so it's breaking news of broadcasting deals and such. But, in that tweet on Saturday night, he spouted off three very plausible things happening.
We all know that the idea of Morgan Rielly being traded to the San Jose Sharks almost immediately after the Stanley Cup is handed out, is certainly in the realm of possibility. Even down to the specific team as the 32-year-old Leafs defenseman could be seen as an experienced leader on their blue line and really provide value off the ice for a young team.
And, the rumours of Avalanche general manager Chris MacFarland leaving Colorado to then become the Nashville Predators' president of hockey operations (or some other big title) have not died down. There's no reason why Nashville has not named a new front office now. It was all the way back in February that Barry Trotz announced that he will be stepping down from his position. So them waiting until Colorado was knocked out of the playoffs, to then pounce on MacFarland, makes sense.
So, there's no reason to believe that it isn't possible that Carle is the next head coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs.
It's not from one of the most trusted hockey insiders, but it's certainly someone that wouldn't just spout off anything with such certainty. We see it all the time that there are "feelings" or that they're "hearing" or "things can be leaning" in a certain way. To make it so concrete, it feels like even more than just a little speculation.
We'll just see where this goes, but it would make sense for the Leafs to announce their new head coach in the coming weeks before the 2026 NHL Draft.
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