For just the third time in nine years, the Toronto Maple Leafs need a new head coach.

Given how NHL coaches quickly hop on and off the coaching carousel every summer, the stability the Leafs have had behind the bench sets them apart. Sheldon Keefe’s four-and-a-half-year tenure made him the fifth-longest active serving coach in the NHL.

But with Keefe’s firing on Thursday, that streak is over, and beginning next season, there will be a new voice directing traffic inside Scotiabank Arena.

Who will that coach be?

When Leafs president Brendan Shanahan moved on from former GM Kyle Dubas, he was serious about finding a replacement with experience. The same will likely hold for the organization’s next significant hire. The Leafs are not in the player development phase. Instead, a coach with a lengthy CV will likely be required to push this team over the hump and closer to their Stanley Cup aspirations.

Let’s consider some of the options available (or not) right now.

Craig Berube

The odds-on favourite out of the gates to replace Keefe. And that’s because Craig Berube ticks every box imaginable in terms of what Shanahan and Leafs GM Brad Treliving likely desire in a head coach.

Lengthy experience as a tough-as-nails player? Check.

Nearly just as many seasons spent behind NHL benches? Yep.

And at least optically speaking, most important: Can Berube arrive wearing a Stanley Cup ring?

Berube sparked a St. Louis Blues team that had a history of falling short in the playoffs to their first and only Stanley Cup after taking over midway through the 2018-19 season. He did so with a hard-nosed approach and you get the sense that matters to Shanahan and Treliving.

Let go in the middle of this season due in large part to inconsistent results and, forgive me if you’ve heard this before, an underperforming power play, Berube is still hungry to get back into the coaching game. Being brief, direct but emotionally involved as Berube is could set him up for success in Toronto.

“I want to make sure I’m going to a good organization,” he told The Athletic in December. “You want to work with good people, and you always want an opportunity to win. I want to coach, but I want to make sure that it’s the right situation.”

Gerard Gallant 

If it’s truly experience Shanahan and Treliving want, they could do a lot worse than Gallant. An NHL lifer with 17 seasons coaching in the league and a Jack Adams Award, Gallant has seen a lot. He’s gotten close to a Stanley Cup, losing in the 2018 final with the Vegas Golden Knights. In his most recent stint with the New York Rangers, Gallant became the first coach in franchise history to guide the team to back-to-back 100-point seasons.

Gallant was then fired by the Rangers after last season when the Rangers exited the playoffs in the first round. So, he certainly seems to understand the fact that the NHL is a results-oriented business.

What might work against him is his age: At 61, he’s the second-oldest coach on this list. If the Leafs want someone who can steer the ship for a long stretch, you wonder if they consider that. That said, Gallant has a history of giving teams a healthy jolt before moving on within three seasons.

“I think people know (I’m available),” Gallant said in January. “They know I want to coach again so if the opportunity comes up, I’d be happy to.” 

Rod Brind’Amour

Yes, Brind’Amour is still coaching, having guided the Carolina Hurricanes to the second round of the playoffs.

And yes, it’s been continually suggested that Brind’Amour – in the final year of his contract – will re-up with the Hurricanes soon enough.

But, also, yes: The Leafs have to at least do their due diligence and see if one of the best coaches in the NHL and a Jack Adams Award-winner would consider coming to Toronto. How could he not be the top choice for the Leafs, given his relentless mentality, results and how well he connects with players?

The Hurricanes are the kind of razor-sharp, smart organization the Leafs have long wanted to be. That they want to keep Brind’Amour presents every reason for the Leafs to see if they could entice him to come to Toronto.

This might remain a pipe dream for Leafs fans. But hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies.

Todd McLellan

Like a few others on this list, McLellan is rich with experience. He hasn’t bounced around a lot, spending time with just four organizations in his 19 seasons of NHL coaching.

Heading back to his first gig as an assistant with the Detroit Red Wings, McLellan ran a wildly efficient power play and won a Stanley Cup in 2008. Even with that experience, his teams can lock it down defensively, which could prepare the Leafs for the playoffs.

Most recently, McLellan spent four-and-a-half seasons as coach of an up-and-coming Los Angeles Kings team. He exited in the first round in his final two full seasons but also did so with a youngish roster.

McLellan was fired by the Kings in February. Toward the end of his tenure, especially after a 5-3 loss to the Buffalo Sabres on Jan. 24, he appeared unafraid to call out his struggling team. That hasn’t happened enough in Toronto as of late.

“The stupidity that went into that loss is beyond explainable,” McLellan said after the loss. “When you look at the team that played the first 25-30 games, if you will, it doesn’t look like the team that’s playing right now, and I’m responsible for it.”

John Gruden

The Toronto Marlies head coach does not have any head coach experience in the NHL, but was still an assistant for the Bruins during their record-setting 2022-23 campaign before being scooped up for the Leafs’ AHL team.

With a roster lacking high-end talent, Gruden learned the Leafs organization and got the Marlies back into the playoffs this season. Behind the scenes, many Marlies and the organization itself felt Gruden’s hardened approach was needed and worked wonders to push players toward success.

Optically, you can understand why some fans might be skeptical of another Marlies coach being promoted to run the Leafs bench. However, Gruden’s experience with NHL teams shouldn’t be overlooked and his familiarity with some of the team’s younger players – combined with his coaching philosophy – makes him worthy of inclusion here.\

Could Bruce Boudreau get the Maple Leafs over the hump? (Jeff Vinnick / NHLI via Getty Images)

Bruce Boudreau

The sentimental choice.

Boudreau spent parts of seven seasons as a Leafs defenceman and understands what winning in this market means to a city and its fanbase. He’s only ever been a head coach in the NHL and has done so for 15 seasons with four teams.

Let’s talk persona: Who doesn’t love Boudreau’s uplifting approach to coaching and man management?

Boudreau has never won a Stanley Cup but you could do a lot worse than employing someone with a .626 winning percentage in the regular season. Among coaches with at least 1,000 games of experience, that’s second all-time.

After being unfairly treated and then axed by Vancouver Canucks management midway through last season, Boudreau has remained in the media as a television analyst. He’s long been floated by voices throughout the hockey world as a decent fit to get the Leafs out of their losing ways. Would that work for a full season or is he more of the type to come in mid-season and remind the team the end of the world is far, far away?

It’s hard to find someone on this list who would handle the noise and media attention that comes with coaching the Leafs better than Boudreau. But, and it’s not a small but: Boudreau is the oldest coach on this list at 69. Like Gallant, if the Leafs want long-term stability behind the bench (which they should) they might end up going a bit younger. 

David Carle

The up-and-comer on the list.

After winning his second NCAA national championship with the University of Denver in three years this spring – just months after coaching the United States to a world juniors gold medal – Carle has earned the reputation of being arguably the best coach outside of the pro ranks.

At 34, by far the youngest coach on this list, he very likely has a long NHL career ahead of him.

Would the Leafs want to jump to the front of the pack, challenge the status quo and bring in Carle just as they did a decade ago by bringing in Kyle Dubas from the OHL?

On one hand, if they want a winner, Carle has shown he gets results. On the other, his recent work with young players suggests he might be a better fit for a team focused more on player development right now like, say, the San Jose Sharks.

Sometimes successful coaches outside the NHL are wary of starting as assistants. Keefe, for example, was adamant about becoming a head coach out of the AHL instead of an assistant. But if Carle is into the idea of running one of the Leafs special teams and connecting with younger players, the Leafs should already have gotten in touch.

Dan Bylsma

Bylsma, you’ll remember, took over the Pittsburgh Penguins midseason in 2008-09 in his first NHL head coaching gig. Months later, Bylsma and the Penguins won a Stanley Cup. So, the man knows how to provide a spark.

He continued to push the Penguins to the postseason over the following five seasons in Pittsburgh and won a Jack Adams Award along the way.

Bylsma’s next two seasons as head coach of the Buffalo Sabres didn’t yield any postseason success (or any postseason appearances whatsoever) but the roster feels more to blame there.

After moving to the AHL – Bylsma is in the middle of his second season with the AHL’s Coachella Valley Firebirds – he’s gotten back to his winning ways. Bylsma took his team to Game 7 of the AHL’s Calder Cup Final last year, came up just short and is in the middle of another successful season right now. And he’s done so with a so-so Seattle Kraken prospect pool. This is a coach deserving of another NHL opportunity. And given the calibre of stars he’s worked with in the past, moving to Toronto might not be a shock to his system.

Jay Woodcroft

There’s more to Woodcroft than the parts of three seasons he recently spent as head coach of the Edmonton Oilers. He has 13 seasons of experience as either an NHL assistant or a video coach for teams with some of the world’s biggest stars such as Connor McDavid, Joe Thornton and Pavel Datsyuk. He’s been part of Stanley Cup champions (2008 Red Wings) and has seen teams get close (2009 and 2010 San Jose Sharks).

Sure, there might be questions about Woodcroft because of how similar the makeup of the Leafs and the Oilers are and the results the Oilers have gotten since he was given his walking papers in Nov. 2023. But he still has a lot working for him: Woodcroft is a local guy who, like others on this list, knows the market. If Leafs management think positivity is the answer, Woodcroft’s progressive and thoughtful attitude should put him high on the list.

Plus, if you take McDavid at his word and believe what he said after Woodcroft’s firing, (“I know the narrative out there, couldn’t be further from the truth,” McDavid said) the former Oilers coach wasn’t the reason that team stumbled out of the gate this year. The team’s league-worst .864 save percentage before he was fired probably has more to do with it.

Like many people on this list, Woodcroft is a talented and smart coach and deserves to be in the NHL.

Dean Evason

Evason’s fiery attitude and no-nonsense approach might be what the doctor ordered in Toronto. He wants his players to play as hard as they can, and won’t stop pushing them until they get there. Accountability is important to Evason. That feels like the kind of coach Treliving might want.

The results he’s achieved, however, might work against him. Evason spent seven seasons as an assistant with the Washington Capitals before moving to the Minnesota Wild organization. As both an assistant and eventual head coach, Evason’s Wild teams never got past the first round of the playoffs.

The indefinable qualities within his persona, though, are sure to keep him in the running.

(Top photo of Craig Berube: Ron Chenoy / USA Today)