Losing Spencer Carbery would be massive blow to Maple Leafs coaching staff
By Nick Barden
1 year agoBringing in Spencer Carbery was an incredible decision, but could he be leaving the Maple Leafs already?
When the 40-year-old was hired by Toronto, there was a problem with their power play. They had one of the top first units in the NHL with Mitch Marner, Auston Matthews, John Tavares, William Nylander, and Morgan Rielly, but somehow struggled to get anything going.
In the season before Carbery took over, the Maple Leafs had the 16th-best power play in the entire league, sitting at 20%. Toronto knew it could be better with the players available, so they went out and brought in someone new.
They went from being in the middle of the pack to dominating the competition with the 40-year-old coach aboard. The Maple Leafs finished this past season with the NHL’s best power play which scored 27.3% of the time they had the man advantage.
But as quickly as Carbery came in, he might soon be on his way out.
The Boston Bruins have been on the lookout for a new head coach after they shockingly fired Bruce Cassidy earlier this month. And according to Elliotte Friedman on 32 Thoughts, Carbery is one of the many coaches being interviewed by Boston.
From Friedman on the 32 Thoughts Podcast:“I think in Boston, it’s going to be someone a bit fresher. It’s going to be (Jim) Montgomery or it’s going to be (Jay) Leach, or it’s going to be (David) Quinn, I’ve heard Vellucci’s name in there, Spencer Carbery. You know, Spencer Carbery is an interesting one because I forgot this — that when Toronto hired Carbery — the Maple Leafs were already down the road, and I think Boston tried to talk to him. And it was just a situation where it was too far gone.”
I wouldn’t count this as a shock, but it’s quite interesting given the success Carbery had with the Maple Leafs. One of the reasons it’s not shocking is because the 40-year-old has a past with the Bruins organization. He spent one season as the AHL’s Providence Bruins’ assistant coach back in 2017-18.
The next year, he became the head coach of the Hershey Bears before joining Toronto last summer.
Carbery leaving the Maple Leafs organization would be a huge blow to the coaching staff. While they’ve finally figured out their power play problems, the 40-year-old still provides incredible value to the team in other areas like the penalty kill and just being an efficient assistant coach.
But, I mean, you can’t blame him for wanting to become a head coach, especially in a place where there’s some familiarity like Boston. Even with it seeming likely that he could be off to the Bruins, there’s the looming possibility that he doesn’t get the job too.
There are plenty of coaches being interviewed for the position and with that being said, the more people being interviewed, the lower the chances are that Carbery gets the job. However, the likelihood that he leaves still remains, for now.
It’s clear, though, that if Toronto retains the 40-year-old assistant coach, the expectations that the power play is great again stays intact.
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