Overview
- The Maple Leafs still have an open head-coaching job and, according to multiple reports, Patrick Roy and Peter Laviolette entered the interview stage Wednesday as the club widens its search.
- Roy brings a fiery, player-focused style and recent NHL experience with the New York Islanders while Laviolette offers deep playoff pedigree and a Stanley Cup on his resume, giving Toronto two very different profiles to evaluate.
- The team has cast a wide net with an initial candidate list reportedly in the double digits and is conducting interviews in phases rather than rushing to a decision.
- External limits on targets are shaping the process: Bruce Cassidy remains effectively unavailable because of Vegas’s retained rights, and the club’s cautious messaging tightened after a false social post claimed David Carle had been hired.
- The hire matters for on-ice direction and personnel moves because the new GM John Chayka and adviser Mats Sundin view the coach as central to how the Leafs will use and build around core players such as Auston Matthews.