Big news out of Toronto dropped this morning. The Maple Leafs have let go of Craig Berube. The decision to part ways came just a week after the hiring of John Chayka as the new GM. A current Colorado Avalanche coach has been named as a potential replacement for Berube.
The Maple Leafs seem to be in a sudden rebuild after their disappointing season.
Of course, the big question to ask is, who will their next head coach be? There are plenty of names out there on the market. There have been some obvious veteran names, like Bruce Cassidy and former Avalanche head coach Patrick Roy, who were both let go late in the season by their respective teams. Then there are the candidates without NHL head coaching experience, like David Carle of the University of Denver and Manny Malhotra from the AHL's Abbotsford Canucks. NHL insider Elliotte Friedman has reported him as a serious candidate for the Maple Leafs job.
Potential candidate from Colorado
If the Maple Leafs want to go with a new face, another name that has popped up is Colorado Avalanche assistant coach Nolan Pratt. In an article from For The Win, he is named as one of the top NHL assistant coaches as a possible option. Pratt has been with the Avalanche for 11 years, having arrived just a season before Jared Bednar. He serves as the team‘s defensive assistant coach and has clearly installed a quality defensive system.
In his time with the Avs, he has helped the team to five top-ten finishes in goals against, with the team leading the league in fewest goals against.
In addition, the Avalanche ended the season with the league's best penalty kill. With the Avalanche being the best defensive team this season, it's no surprise that Pratt's experience and results have his name into the rumor mill. We all got to see a little preview of Pratt as a "stand-in" head coach when Jared Bednar was out after taking a puck to the face during a late-season game.
How it would affect the Avalanche
The loss of Pratt would be huge for Colorado. Obviously, losing any coach can be a problem for any team, as coaches must learn the players and the players must learn the coaches. The new system may be vastly different or the players may not fit the new coach's system. The problem for the Avs is that this team is built for his defensive system.
The Avalanche are built on speed and that shows in both the forward and defense groups. The Avs are less physical than most teams, preferring to let quality stick work and positioning do the work defensively. With speed being a key focus, the Avs tend to be somewhat of a smaller team, employing smaller defensemen like former Av Samuel Girard and trade deadline acquisition Nick Blankenburg. However, this team isn't all speed. Josh Manson, Brent Burns and Brett Kulak are all big, strong defensive players.
The Avalanche forward group has gotten bigger over the last couple years. The return of captain Gabriel Landeskog and trade additions in Brock Nelson and Nicolas Roy have added some much-needed size in the middle-six. The fourth line has been most impressive these past couple of years with speedy, defensive forwards like Parker Kelly and Jack Drury smothering opponents. Even star players like Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar have committed to being a defense-first team.
Losing Nolan Pratt as the defensive assistant would be a terrible blow to the Avalanche system. This roster is built to run this system and based on the results this season, everything works. The Avs‘ offense runs best through a strong defensive game, and Pratt's system has proven to be effective. Pratt is probably a long-shot as the coaches with NHL experience are more likely to land the high-profile job, but that doesn't rule him out from this job opening.
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