Breaking: Maple Leafs fire Craig Berube after disaster 78-point season
The Toronto Maple Leafs fired head coach Craig Berube on Wednesday morning, ending a one-year run that finished with the team 28th in the NHL.
Chris Johnston broke the news, posting the team's full statement just after 9:30 AM.
Berube was hired on May 17, 2024. He didn't see a second season behind the bench.
The numbers tell you everything. Toronto closed the year 32-36-14, good for 78 points and a goal differential of -46.
Worse, they limped to the finish line at 2-7-1 over their last 10 games. Seven straight losses to close it out. The final one, a 1-3 road loss in Ottawa, was the last image fans had of this group.
The team's statement framed the move as "an organizational shift and an opportunity for a fresh start." Translation: this front office wanted its own voice in the locker room.
The Leafs were the worst home team in the Atlantic
Toronto went 18-15-8 at Scotiabank Arena. On the road, it got uglier. 14-21-6.
For a market that prints money on home dates, watching the building lose its edge was its own kind of indictment. The blue line bled chances. The penalty kill couldn't get a stop when it mattered.
A Stanley Cup winner as a coach, Berube was supposed to be the answer to Toronto's identity problem. Instead, the team allowed 299 goals, more than 3.6 per night.
You don't survive a season like that in this market. Doesn't matter what's on your resume. Doesn't matter how the room felt about you in October.
Berube becomes the latest name added to a coaching graveyard that's been filling up in Toronto for two decades. The chairs keep getting swapped. The ceiling keeps holding.
What comes next is the real story. The Leafs now need a coach willing to walk into the most scrutinized job in hockey, knowing the roof has a leak nobody's been able to patch.
And the clock on that search starts now.
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YESTERDAY
MAY 12, 2026
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| G | A | PTS | ||
| Pavel Dorofeyev | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Tomas Hertl | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Tage Thompson | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Josh Doan | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Jack Eichel | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Cutter Gauthier | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Mason McTavish | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Zach Benson | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Cole Caufield | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Alex Newhook | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Mattias Samuelsson | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Beckett Sennecke | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Olen Zellweger | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Rasmus Andersson | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Rasmus Dahlin | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Ivan Demidov | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Jake Evans | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Lane Hutson | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Josh Norris | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Brandon Saad | - | 1 | 1 | |
| COMPLETE STATS | ||||