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Report: Pete DeBoer contacted Craig Berube to deny interest in Leafs’ head coaching job
Photo credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images
Dec 28, 2025, 08:00 ESTUpdated: Dec 28, 2025, 00:11 EST
Former NHL head coach Pete DeBoer reportedly reached out to Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube, amid speculation about the latter’s job, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported during Saturday Headlines.
Here’s what Friedman said during Saturday’s broadcast:
One other thing that happened this week that I thought was pretty interesting was that Peter DeBoer, who was the subject of much speculation to potentially replace Craig Berube as the Maple Leafs’ coach, sent a note through a friend to Berube saying, ‘Forget all this noise. I’m not involved here, and it’s not happening.’ Found out about it today, sent a note to DeBoer about it and all he said was ‘I’ve been on the other side of that. I didn’t like the fact that I was on this side of it this time.
Friedman reported that DeBoer reached out to Berube that he wasn’t interested in staging a coup for the Leafs’ job. Maple Leafs general manager Brad Treliving also provided Berube with a second vote of confidence on December 23, previously issuing his support for Berube during a November 18 first-quarter presser.
“Well, I’m not going to get into hypotheticals of what happens with this,” Treliving said when asked about his vote of confidence extending to Berube if the Leafs continue to lose. “We’ve got a good coach. We’ve got to continue to make our team better. We’ve got areas that we’ve got to get better in. It’s not lost on us where the team’s at. We live it every day. But I think we’ve got a real good coach.”
The Fourth Period’s David Pagnotta appeared on Leafs Morning Take on December 22 to report that DeBoer is comfortable with where he is currently and isn’t clamouring to get back into the NHL, unless it’s a situation where the team he is joining is in contention for the Stanley Cup. Pagnotta dispelled the notion that a coaching change in Toronto was imminent and that DeBoer probably wouldn’t be interested, even if the job were made available.
If nothing else, Berube knows that DeBoer has his back, as both know what it’s like to be mired in speculation about their future. Toronto has won consecutive games since assistant Marc Savard was fired, and Treliving reiterated his full support towards Berube.
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