Maple Leafs Hire Former Blues Boss Craig Berube As Head Coach

Toronto will have a Stanley Cup champion behind the bench next season.

Jan 26, 2023; Tempe, Arizona, USA; St. Louis Blues had coach Craig Berube looks on. / Matt Kartozian-USA TODAY Sports

Eight days after canning coach Sheldon Keefe, the Toronto Maple Leafs have found his replacement.

Craig Berube will be named the Maple Leafs' next head coach, the team announced Friday. Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet and Jeremy Rutherford of The Athletic were first to report the news.

Berube, 58, won the Stanley Cup in 2019 with the St. Louis Blues—a team he took over midseason after coach Mike Yeo's dismissal. He led the Blues from '19 to Dec. 12, 2023; St. Louis fired him after 6-4 loss to the Detroit Red Wings.

The Calahoo, Alberta native got his start as a head coach with the Philadelphia Flyers from 2014 to '15. Berube played 17 seasons in the NHL as a left wing, including 40 games with Toronto in 1992.

Former Blues coach Craig Berube expected to be announced as the next coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs, a source tells @TheAthleticNHL. First to report @FriedgeHNIC. #stlblues

— Jeremy Rutherford (@jprutherford) May 17, 2024

Introducing the 32nd head coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs, Craig Berube 🔵⚪️

— Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) May 17, 2024

During a TV hit on May 5, TNT analyst Paul Bissonnette told Berube to stop trash talking him or he would "break the news that you're the new Leafs head coach."

Paul Bissonnette just told Craig Berube to stop chirping him or "I'm going to break the news that you're the new Leafs head coach" and I will be spending the rest of the night freeze-frame analyzing Berube's reaction.

— Down Goes Brown (@DownGoesBrown) May 6, 2024

The Maple Leafs' Stanley Cup drought of 57 years—extended when the team lost to the Boston Bruins in a seven-game first-round series this season—is the longest in the NHL.