Toronto Maple Leafs general manager John Chayka was not in a fully revealing mood on Wednesday, particularly when it came to explaining why the decision was made to fire coach Craig Berube. Chayka, in a hastily called media availability at the Ford Performance Centre, praised Berube a few times but otherwise would not get into details of the dismissal, which came four weeks after Toronto's last game of the 2025-26 regular season.
Reasons Behind the Firing
Perhaps Chayka did not really have to provide an explanation why the team is going in another direction with its head coach. The on-ice product spoke volumes. Our thinking has been and is that under no circumstances could Berube return, considering the poor year the Leafs had on the ice marked by Berube's inability to make corrections. No matter what he tried in his second season behind the Leafs bench, nothing worked.
And so much for the speculation that Berube was safe because he was a) pals with MLSE president and CEO Keith Pelley or b) MLSE had no interest in paying him for the next two years to not coach.
Chayka on Auston Matthews
Chayka was a little more forthcoming on the topic of captain Auston Matthews, which looms large over anything the organization does and will continue to, we figure, for much of the off-season. Chayka, who took questions for just under nine minutes in the Leafs dressing room, was adamant that the uncertain future of Matthews did not impact the decision to let Berube go.
"None, zero," Chayka said without elaborating.
Meetings with Matthews
What we do know is that the serious sit-down meeting — or meetings — with Matthews have not happened yet. The captain did not necessarily have direct input with the club's decision to move on from Berube. Logistics, more than anything else, have been the reason that the in-person gatherings have yet to take place. Matthews is at home rehabbing his surgically repaired left knee. Chayka has been getting to know everyone in the organization. Fellow front-office hire Mats Sundin not only has been getting further acquainted with others in the hockey department, he is laying down the foundation to move his family to Toronto from Sweden.
When the time comes, what does Chayka want to get out of meeting with Matthews? "Similar to all the players," Chayka said. "I know Auston's the captain and a prolific goal-scorer, and there's much attention on that. From my perspective, as I said in my press conference (on May 4), and it wasn't just a line, I view the players as our partners. Auston is an accomplished player who is world-class. I think he wants to align on the vision and the strategy ahead, as do we. I don't think there is any type of competing interests. I think it's about getting on the same page. It was important for me to get a good lay of the land in terms of internal workings and what we had in place. We wanted to make sure that we had all the knowledge we could possibly have so when we sit down, we can have the best discussion."
Matthews' Future
Matthews, with two years remaining on his contract, was non-committal to continuing his Leafs tenure when he was asked about it a month ago following the season finale. He said he could not predict the future and wanted to hear what the new people in charge had to say. Since, the Leafs landscape has changed without so much as the players taking another shift. We do not want to put words in Matthews' mouth, but winning the draft lottery and the option of selecting Gavin McKenna first overall, coupled with a new coach, can be seen only as positives.
Matthews got along well with Berube. What cannot be overlooked is Matthews' attributes were not brought to the fore under Berube, definitely not to the extent that Sheldon Keefe was able to get during his time as Leafs coach. Keep in mind that if it shakes out that Matthews remains, he wants nothing more than to win a Stanley Cup as captain of the Leafs.
Change in Philosophy Required
The new person behind the bench will have to let Matthews loose, if we can put it that way. There is no doubt that if Matthews returns, the coach has to unlock the captain's offence. More of an up-tempo system than what Berube employed would benefit both Matthews and William Nylander, would it not?
"It's tough for me to gauge from the outside," Chayka said. "I think Craig's opinion, and I agreed with him, was that he tried a lot of different things. It's more about how we want to play as an organization, and the types of things we want to value. Having the roster fit the coach at the right time, the right way, is always an important aspect of it. But I don't think that was the deciding factor of this decision."
