NHL Network: Elliotte Friedman on NHL Now when asked about what name(s) keep coming up with the Toronto Maple Leafs coaching search.
** NHLRumors.com transcription
Jamie Hersch: “Back to the coaching search. Are you hearing any name or couple names that keep kind of popping up in terms of the vacant position in Toronto?
Friedman: “I think you, I think it’s the same, the short answer to your question, Jamie is yes, yes, we are. Look it’s, it’s, it’s not for everybody. But I think it’s a great job. Like if I was if I was good enough to be a coach in the NHL, which we all know I’m not, I would love to coach in Toronto because I think the rewards are so high. And I think if you have success here, you figure it out here. You know that you become very popular.
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Now, I think a lot of the focus will be on Craig Berube. I think, I would say he’s probably the number one choice of I think a lot of the fan base and a lot of the people who around here who cover the team. I think they will interview him.
I think they, you know, Berube was interviewed Ottawa, went deep on that path. They went for Green. He’s been interviewed in New Jersey, I think more than once. He’s very much in the conversation there. I don’t know yet what the Devils are going to do, but he’s very much in the conversation there.
So Toronto’s got to get going, and I think he’ll be there. I think Todd McLellan. I think McLellan has been interviewed by four teams already. And if he’s not hired by any of them, I can see him being on Toronto’s radar. I also do wonder a little bit about Jay Woodcroft simply because Treliving coached, or worked against him in Calgary, Edmonton for the last couple of years.
It is, it would be unlike Treliving, to just go to one guy and do it. He likes a process. But the one thing here is because Toronto is a bit later into the search, they might be forced to move quicker than I think he likes to.