3 Reasons why Toronto Maple Leafs will win the Stanley Cup this year

No. 1: New Head Coach

For the first time since 2019, there is a new head coach in the Leafs dressing room and he doesn't care about what's happened in the past.

When I think of Sheldon Keefe's tenure as head coach, I think of it in a positive light, but I always wish that Keefe came first and Mike Babcock came second.

I think Babcock is one of the biggest pieces of garbage that has ever coached in the NHL, but he is someone who's had success everywhere he's coached (other than Toronto and Columbus). Babcock's menality is best suited for an older team, while Keefe's is better suited for a younger team, so I think if their roles were reversed, Babcock could have gotten more out of the mature squad than the younger team that came in.

Now that Keefe is gone, I think Berube is going to change the locker room and demand repsect immediately. He's a coach that has won a Stanley Cup and someone who played over 1,000 NHL games. Keefe had great experience as a player and coach, but Berube has even more and played with an edge, accumulating over 3,000 penalty minutes in his career.

The new coach-bump is a real thing in hockey and I don't think it's being talked about enough. The same thing can be applied to the New Jersey Devils with Keefe, as I think they're going to be a playoff team next year as well, but Berube's experience will be a difference-maker for Toronto this year.