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Pierre McGuire believes Maple Leafs are getting close to ‘drop-dead’ date when it comes to naming next GM
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Michael Coyle
Apr 29, 2026, 09:00 EDTUpdated: Apr 29, 2026, 09:12 EDT
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The Toronto Maple Leafs’ offseason to-do list is set to be a long one as the club tries to prove that what transpired during the 2025-26 regular season is just an aberration from what is the normal expectation of playoff hockey in Toronto. 
On Tuesday, former NHL head coach Pierre McGuire joined Leafs Morning Take with Nick Alberga and Jay Rosehill to discuss the state of the Maple Leafs’ GM search, the current prospect pool in Toronto, and how he feels about current Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube. 
Last Friday, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported that the Maple Leafs’ search for their next general manager was down to two candidates, John Chayka and current Dallas Stars assistant GM Scott White. Since then, Friedman also reported that the hold-up in the decision-making process was due to the Maple Leafs waiting on a decision from former captain Mats Sundin. 
“I’m surprised more hasn’t leaked. They started the whole process by leaking a lot of names, and that’s the wrong way to do a building process. They’ve tightened the screws a little bit on the leakage, which is a positive thing, not a negative thing,” McGuire said. “They’re getting close to having a drop-dead date just because of the World Championships coming up, the NHL playoffs, AHL playoffs, the Memorial Cup, just had the World U-18s, so there is a lot of stuff where key decision makers need to be there. I’m not saying the Maple Leafs don’t have those people involved in different phases and elements, but a general manager should be hands-on this time of year.” 
In early April, Scott Wheeler from The Athletic ranked all 32 NHL teams by the current state of their prospects. The Maple Leafs found themselves ranked 29th after years of trading away draft selections and picking late following playoff appearances. Keeping their draft pick this season is of vast importance as the club tries to build on what is currently a barren group of prospects.
“This pick is very important, and there’s a lot of credibility in it. I think it’s so important for Toronto,” McGuire said. “I think they’ve got prospects at different levels. I know a lot of kids they’ve signed out of college, whether it was Union College, Northeastern University, Dartmouth or Henry Thrun and Marshall Rifai out of Harvard. I know all those players, and I wouldn’t say they are top-heavy with A-level prospects, and I’m a hard marker, but I’d say they are top-heavy with B to B-plus prospects, so I think this draft is really important for them.” 
After the Maple Leafs fired Brad Treliving on March 30, it felt like a done deal that Berube would follow in short order. The Maple Leafs were outshot on most nights, oftentimes looking lifeless as the season dragged on, leaving many to question whether Berube had lost the room. As the offseason continues, Berube remains the man in charge, creating the possibility that he could remain next season. 
“Anytime you’ve coached in the NHL, you never want to see anybody fired, even if you don’t like them. I happen to like Craig a lot. I think he’s a really good coach. The 2019 run to the final, I did every St.Louis Blues game for NBC Sports, and it was a privilege to be around him to see how he influenced the outcome of some of those games,” McGuire said. “How he deployed Alexander Steen, Oskar Sundqvist, Ivan Barbashev, and Alex Pietrangelo, he did so many good things, so I’m a big believer in his coaching methods. Having not been in the dressing room, I don’t know if the guys have turned on him or not, but what I would say, he’s a man of honour, he has organizational standards, and I do think he can communicate those standards really well.”
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