C’mon Bruce, do it! Lance Hornby of the Toronto Sun has hinted of the possibility that Bruce Boudreau “would consider giving himself a demotion” for a chance to work with the Maple Leafs. Boudreau has been a great defensive coach throughout his career and is currently a free agent after leaving the Minnesota Wild at the beginning of this season. Boudreau was also a Leafs for a while when he played in the NHL in the 70s.

Boudreau remains an openly massive Leafs fan (I wonder if he reads the blog?) and has indicated in the past his interest in working with the team. Boudreau’s Wild ran a very effective defensive structure during his three years with the team.

The Wild from 2016-19 had the lowest expected goals against per 60 minutes at 5v5 in the league at 1.94 and the best total expected goals share in the league 54.5%. The Leafs during that time had the third worst expected goals against at 2.56 and were 13th in expected goals share 51.3%.

The Leafs currently have a hole on the coaching roster after Paul McFarland left the team to go coach the Kingston Frontenacs. McFarland coached the offense and power play, while Dave Hakstol ran the defense and penalty kill for both Mike Babcock and Sheldon Keefe.

These conversations were sparked today when the Leafs officially announced that McFarland has left and that the team also did not retain assistant/video coach Andrew Brewer. Hornby has also speculated that Hakstol, who used to coach the Philadelphia Flyers, will remain with the team under Keefe.