The Toronto Maple Leafs fell apart within the 2025-26 season and fell to the underside of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference. Many had expected to complete in first place in that division and make an extended run within the Stanley Cup playoffs. Their poor season led to the firing of head coach Craig Berube.
The Maple Leafs haven’t filled that position yet, and a false report surfaced that the hiring of University of Denver head coach David Carle was imminent. Nevertheless, that report got here from a fake account. A minor-league play-by-play announcer also reported that Carle’s signing by the Leafs was near fruition, but that report was refuted by two NHL insiders.
Frank Servalli said that the Maple Leafs had a “nice conversation” with Carle, but it surely was not more than that. Carle told the Leafs that he was not a candidate for the position and he declined an invite to interview for the job.
NHL reporter Chris Johnston of The Athletic also reported that Carle was not a candidate. His report on X said that there may be “no smoke” to the report that Carle was going to grow to be the following Leafs head coach.
The Leafs recently hired John Chayka as their latest general manager, and that call was viewed as something of a shocker because Chayka had been out of the league after being dismissed from his previous position by the Arizona Coyotes. Chayka is taken into account something of an outsider, so he could possibly be fascinated about a candidate who’s something of a longshot. Nevertheless, that candidate will not be Carle, who stays because the Denver head coach.
The Toronto Maple Leafs fell apart within the 2025-26 season and fell to the underside of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference. Many had expected to complete in first place in that division and make an extended run within the Stanley Cup playoffs. Their poor season led to the firing of head coach Craig Berube.

