Toronto Maple Leafs Fire Head Coach Craig Berube After Disastrous 2025–26 Campaign
Photo credit: Dan Hamilton - USA TODAY Sports
Written By Gina Anton
The Toronto Maple Leafs have officially moved on from head coach Craig Berube after a disastrous 2025–26 season that ended with the team missing the playoffs for the first time since 2016 and finishing near the bottom of the Eastern Conference. The decision marks another major reset for a franchise still searching for postseason stability and raises a familiar question about Berube’s coaching career: is there a pattern of strong starts followed by abrupt collapses?
“Craig is a tremendous coach and an even better person,” said Leafs General Manager John Chayka. “This decision is more reflective of an organizational shift and an opportunity for a fresh start than it is an evaluation of Craig. We are grateful for his leadership, professionalism and commitment to the Maple Leafs organization and wish Craig and his family nothing but the best moving forward.”
Berube’s Maple Leafs finished the season with one of the worst defensive records in the NHL, allowing 3.60 goals per game (28th in the league), while sliding to 8th in the Atlantic Division and 15th in their Conference.
Despite a high-end core led by Auston Matthews, and William Nylander, the team consistently struggled with structure, defensive-zone coverage, and puck management. At multiple points in the season, Toronto set unwanted franchise records, including repeated games in which they were heavily outshot, an indicator of prolonged struggles with territorial control.
Berube was hired in May 2024 after Toronto parted ways with Sheldon Keefe, with the expectation that his hard-nosed, defensive coaching style would stabilize a talented but inconsistent roster. In his first season, that plan worked.
The Maple Leafs finished the 2024–25 season with a 52–26–4 record. In the playoffs, they earned a first-round victory over Ottawa in six games, followed by a second-round Game 7 loss to Florida.
Toronto showed structure and intensity, and Berube set a franchise record for most wins by a first-year Leafs coach.
However, the following season unraveled completely. Defensive breakdowns multiplied, special teams regressed, and the team lost its identity. What looked like a culture shift in year one became a collapse in year two.
Before Toronto, Berube was fired by the St. Louis Blues in December 2023 after a poor start to the season following years of success, including a Stanley Cup championship in 2019. The Blues moved on after a prolonged losing stretch and an underperforming roster that had failed to maintain its earlier identity.
Berube’s coaching identity has always been clear: physical play, defensive responsibility, and accountability. But in both St. Louis and Toronto, issues have emerged when those systems stop translating over time.
System fatigue
Players initially respond to structure and discipline, but over time, offensive creativity can suffer, especially with elite skill players like Matthews or Jordan Kyrou.
Adaptation problems
Opponents adjust. When systems become predictable, breakdowns increase, particularly in transition defense.
Offensive suppression
Teams often become defensively rigid, which can limit puck movement and disrupt offensive rhythm.
Craig Berube remains a respected coach with a proven track record, including a Stanley Cup, but his tenure with the Maple Leafs adds to a growing narrative: he may be more effective as a short-term stabilizer than a long-term architect.
