After a few days off, the Stanley Cup Final is ready to resume with a pivotal Game 4 in Las Vegas.

Fresh off a thrilling 5-4 double-overtime victory on Saturday, Vegas has an opportunity to seize a commanding 3-1 series lead. Meanwhile, Carolina will look to even the series at two games apiece and turn it into a best-of-three showdown for the Stanley Cup.

The stakes couldn’t be higher. Let the intrigue begin.

That’s where the conversation started on the Tuesday edition of Leafs Morning Take as Jay Rosehill returned to the mix.

Meantime, it’s official: the Toronto Marlies will face the Chicago Wolves in the Calder Cup Final after Chicago edged Colorado 4-3 in Game 7 of the Western Conference Final. The championship series gets underway Friday night in Chicago.

In a matter of hours, the Maple Leafs could be the only NHL team without a head coach. Peter Laviolette, who had been linked to Toronto, is reportedly headed to Los Angeles. Meanwhile, in a stunning development, it sounds like Edmonton has zeroed in on Mike Babcock. Unsurprisingly, that news has the hockey world buzzing. We broke down both developments and discussed where we think the Leafs’ coaching search could be headed. At this point, it seems like only a handful of candidates remain in the mix. That said, there has been plenty of misdirection throughout this process, so it’s difficult to know exactly what’s real and what’s not.

After that, fresh off leading the Kitchener Rangers to a Memorial Cup championship, Jussi Ahokas stopped by to discuss the keys to building a winning culture. The decorated Finnish bench boss touched on the importance of identity, buy-in, chemistry, and player development, noting that the best teams he’s coached all shared those traits regardless of age group or league. Ahokas also weighed in on projected first overall pick Gavin McKenna, praising his vision, skill, and hockey sense while comparing the hype surrounding him to what he experienced coaching Juraj Slafkovský prior to the 2022 NHL Draft. On the Leafs front, Ahokas revealed that Toronto never reached out to him during its head coaching search despite GM John Chayka recently stating the organization spoke with 55 candidates. Ahokas, who has one year remaining on his contract in Kitchener, admitted that coaching in the NHL remains a long-term goal and suggested the AHL could be a logical next step in his career progression.

At any rate, plenty headed your way on the Wednesday edition of Leafs morning Take. We’ll recap Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final, plus dissect anything new with the Leafs.

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