Three young coaches the Maple Leafs should target instead of another veteran hire

The Maple Leafs need a new head coach, but going after a veteran name may not be the best course of action given they just had an older coach in Craig Berube. It didn't turn out well, and now the team has to find a fresh voice. Going young is a great decision, and there's three coaches who fit the bill: David Carle, John Wroblewski, and Jeremy Colliton.

It won't be easy for John Chayka to find a coach that not only fits in the development window of their young players like Easton Cowan, Ben Danford and McKenna while also managing the veteran stars like William Nylander and Auston Matthews.

That's a tall task for anyone who decides to be the coach, but it may take an outside the box option to give them what they need. While there's not an extensively long list, there are three coaches who deserve attention.

Starting off with the first name we've all heard about and that's David Carle. The U of Denver head coach has built a dynasty in Colorado and recently just signed an extension while also rejecting any potential NHL jobs.

But there's already been contact between Toronto and Carle, with an expectation that more talks will happen in the future. While nothing is guaranteed, even getting the chance to speak to Carle more than once is a win in and of itself. He's arguably the best coach available regardless of being under contract or not, and he could become the next coaching prodigy.

The other two names however aren't known to many casual fans but they could be huge for Toronto. For the past five seasons Wroblewski has been the head coach of the US Women's National Team, the same one that won Olympic Gold; he has also coached at the AHL level with Rockford and spent seven years with the USNTDP team as their head coach.

If you want someone who is familiar with the roster, he's the guy. He's someone who is so engrained in the US Hockey program that if there's a person who can help maximize names like Matthew Knies and Auston Matthews; he could be an under the radar pick.

He's only 44 which would certainly make him one of the youngest faces behind the bench. Colliton is 41 and just spent the last year with the New Jersey Devils as an assistant. He's spent 3.5 seasons with the Blackhawks as a head coach from 2018-19 to 2021-22. So while he's not brand new, he doesn't have that extensive experience of a Bruce Cassidy and could use another stint as a coach.

John Chayka has a lot of work ahead of him but in that extensive and deep search he's doing, he has to make sure he leaves no stone unturned. If there was a chance to bring in someone like Carle, you move hell and high water to make it happen.

The issue there is that he loves the area, is a legend in the NCAA already, has a family and a long-term deal for a lot less pressure and work.

So that's why Chayka needs to make sure that he doesn't ignore the other two options. Both Wroblewski and Colliton are young and hungry coaches, and if Chayka wants to ensure he has some experience then all signs point to at least interviewing Colliton.

There's no excuse not to at least put out feelers for either man, and if Auston Matthews knows that the team is willing to bring in a specific name for him then that should give him the confidence to stick around at least through this year.

Time is not going to be friendly to the Maple Leafs, so making sure they get ahead of things is the only way to make sure they have the proper voice behind the bench.

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