Toronto Maple Leafs To Hit Home Run By Hiring Jay Woodcroft – Hockey Writers – Toronto Maple Leafs

The Toronto Maple Leafs are entering a very important summer. After trading Mitch Marner to the Vegas Golden Knights last season, the Maple Leafs dropped 30 points in the NHL and missed the playoffs for the first time in Auston Matthews’ career. As a result, major changes have been made.

The Maple Leafs made the decision to fire Brad Treliving as their general manager (GM), and replaced him with John Chayka. Recently hired Chayka announced that Craig Berube has been released from his coaching duties, which means that the search for a new bench has begun.

There have been several candidates linked to the Maple Leafs coaching position, and it’s a job many would love to land. Despite their setbacks this past season, this is a team with a lot of talent up and down the roster. They will have more talent on the roster next season after winning the draft lottery for the first time earlier this month.

Despite the multitude of readers, however, one name stands out as a better fit than the others. That would be Jay Woodcroft, who hasn’t had a head coaching opportunity since being fired by the Edmonton Oilers at the start of the 2023-24 season. Although he is not the most experienced man available, he is a good fit for the Maple Leafs.

Woodcroft is everything the Maple Leafs need

Compared to what they had in Berube, Woodcroft will be a breath of fresh air for the Maple Leafs players. He is a good coach for the players, although he knows when to push the buttons at the right time. Part of that stems from his age, as he is only 49 years old and can relate well to today’s generation of athletes.

Woodcroft meshed well with the Oilers’ stars during his time on the bench, and it showed in the results. In 133 games he coached over three seasons, he compiled a 79-41-13 record. That included a 3-9-1 record to begin the 2023-24 campaign that led to his firing. In other words, except for one difficult stretch to end his position, this guy has done a lot of winning.

It’s worth noting that the Oilers have never been a better team offensively than they were under Woodcroft. In his full season behind the bench in 2022-2023, Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Zach Hyman, and Darnell Nurse posted career highs.

After taking time off after his firing in Edmonton, Woodcroft joined the Anaheim Ducks as an assistant coach. Given the success of the Ducks this season, Woodcroft’s name has been linked to numerous coaching positions throughout the NHL. If the team does come calling, it sounds like the organization will have no problem letting him pursue the opportunity.

“I would never stop a coach from getting a coaching job,” Ducks GM Pat Verbeek recently told reporters. “They’re only 32. That’s the best part of his career so I’m not going to hold him back from that.”

In other words, the Maple Leafs have the Ducks’ blessing if they wish to pursue this opportunity. Although Chayka has yet to reveal his direction, hiring Woodcroft would be a decision that should please fans.

Time for New Blood

Too many times in the NHL we seem to see the recycling of the same coaches over and over again. Sometimes, little people need to be given a chance, and although Woodcroft was given a short shot in Edmonton, it wasn’t the true runner he deserved. His winning percentage in his short time with the Oilers is proof that he knows what he’s doing, and the way he goes about delivering his messages would sit much better with the Maple Leafs stars than it did under Berube.