Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube was fired last week, sending social media and sports media outlets across the country into a frenzy. The Leafs are signifying the beginning of a new era starting as soon as the 2026–27 NHL season. Obviously, this began with the hiring of John Chayka as GM and with winning the draft lottery earlier this month.
A new direction for the Maple Leafs
John Chayka has wasted no time putting his fingerprints on the Leafs and their future. This is different than when Brad Treliving first got hired; he seemed initially hesitant to make moves. Chayka said after the firing of Berube that the Leafs will conduct a “wide-ranging” search when looking for the Leafs’ next coach. One topic that’s come up is the possibility of the Leafs getting younger behind the bench and on the ice.
On a recent episode of the 32 Thoughts Podcast with Elliotte Friedman and Kyle Bukauskas, they talked about the pursuit of a new coach for the Leafs. Friedman said the Leafs aren’t planning on rushing into anything regarding their search. However, he added that they’ve been in talks with David Carle. Earlier in the episode, Friedman said he was going to stop name-dropping potential replacements, then said Carle is the current favourite, which I found hilarious. If you don’t know who he is, that’s understandable because NCAA hockey doesn’t have a TV deal in Canada. That’s a separate conversation I’d be willing to have with anybody.
David Carle’s resume
David Carle has been the head coach at the University of Denver for their men’s hockey team since 2018–19. He’s been on the staff since 2008–09. Since becoming Head Coach at the University of Denver, Carle has been winning nonstop. He’s won three national championships and has gone to the national championship game the last three years. Most notably, he coached Denver to a national championship in 2022, beating a star-studded University of Michigan lineup in the semifinals. Some of the players on that team included Kent Johnson, Adam Fantilli, Luke Hughes, Owen Power, and Matty Beniers. Carle has also had success internationally, coaching Team USA to back-to-back gold medals at the World Juniors in 2024 and 2025.
The Leafs have met with Carle to discuss the possibility of him taking over behind the Leafs bench and plan to meet with him again in the future. I think he’d be the best fit for the Leafs given the direction they’re likely heading in. The Leafs are likely to start building for the future, and as mentioned, Carle has been very successful with young players.
Carle has emphasized that if he were to make the jump to coach in the NHL, he wants a say in roster construction. That’s not to say that he’ll be a backseat driver of a head coach or anything, a “say in roster construction” could mean multiple things and could be taken multiple different ways. To me, it means he wants to be able to make suggestions and say to the front office, “Hey, this isn’t working, I think we should trade player X.” It doesn’t necessarily mean that he wants to be Brian Murray with the Ottawa Senators.
Given Carle’s recent success with younger players, he could be a good fit to drive the bus during a rebuild in Toronto. Granted, nobody except him knows what his ambitions are or what he wants in any potential negotiations, but in theory, he’d be an excellent fit for the Leafs.
Dynasty in Denver
Having said that, I think it’s unlikely that he leaves Denver, especially in the middle of a dynasty. Carle has been a massive part of building the University of Denver into one of the best hockey programs in the NCAA. In large part due to Carle, the Denver Pioneers are one of the most highly touted programs in junior hockey, including in the CHL. As a result of the rule change between the CHL and NCAA, players in the CHL no longer lose NCAA eligibility. When you add that to the NIL money these kids are getting and the transfer portal, the possibilities are essentially endless when it comes to recruiting. For reference, Gavin McKenna reportedly got $700k USD in NIL money to play at Penn State.
It’s because of recruiting avenues like this, and clear coaching ability by Carle and the rest of his staff, that the University of Denver has become a national powerhouse in men’s hockey. The other thing is in the NCAA, you don’t rebuild, you reload through the transfer portal, spending NIL money, and recruiting players from the CHL. Denver is currently the favourite to land the projected first overall pick in the 2027 draft class, Landon DuPont.
The Leafs have said they don’t want to rush into anything regarding their coach search, so don’t expect any major news soon, but if I were you, I’d keep a browser tab open for David Carle.
