Michael DiStefano just reminded the Maple Leafs brass that Bruce Cassidy is still looking for a coaching job.
The timing is no accident. Toronto lost 5-2 to Minnesota on Thursday night at home, and the pressure on Jim Hiller keeps growing.
Before that game, the Maple Leafs were 8-11-2 with 18 points, and they had lost five straight. They were also 3-7-0 over their last 10.
Thursday gave the skeptics more to work with. Anthony Stolarz stopped 21 of 25 shots in the loss, while Matthew Boldy scored a hat trick for the Wild. Auston Matthews scored for Toronto, but the Leafs never found a way back.
Hours after the game, Matthews explained Hiller's postgame approach in the Leafs' locker room, and the questions about the bench have not gone away.
DiStefano posted a short message on X, a nudge aimed at the people who make the decisions in Toronto:
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Cassidy's name carries weight as a coach, and his playing career was brief. He appeared in 36 NHL games over six seasons, all with Chicago, and finished with 4 goals and 13 assists.
Is a coaching change really on the table in Toronto?
Hiller is still the head coach, and John Chayka is still the general manager who would have to make that call. DiStefano's post is a suggestion from outside the building, not a report that the Leafs are looking.
Still, the numbers give the idea some oxygen. Toronto has scored 69 goals and allowed 75, a goal differential of -6. It is 4-8-1 at home, which is where a team usually builds its season.
Hiller has not been shy about calling players out. After the 6-3 loss to Colorado on Wednesday, he called out Gavin McKenna, and an AHL trip came into the conversation.
A coach who is publicly pushing his rookies while the team keeps losing creates a tense room. Replacing him will not fix a blue line that is giving up chances or a goalie facing 25 shots a night, but in the NHL the coach is usually the first thing to move.
Those talking about a change want it to happen before the Leafs fall further back in the Atlantic Division. Toronto hosts Edmonton on Saturday, with a sixth straight loss as the very real alternative.
This article was written with the help of artificial intelligence, based on public reports and official sources.
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