Bryan Hayes says coach Craig Berube must ‘own’ Maple Leafs’ disaster
The Toronto Maple Leafs face heavy scrutiny after a disastrous 2025-26 NHL season, and analyst Bryan Hayes believes head coach Craig Berube must take responsibility for the collapse. The Leafs’ season has resulted in failure, missing the playoffs for the first time since 2016. The organization already dismissed general manager Brad Treliving, but debate continues about where the real accountability lies.
Speaking on TSN OverDrive, Hayes pointed to alarming defensive numbers that placed Toronto near the bottom of the league. Hayes argued a coach cannot look at those numbers and claim progress, calling the situation a complete breakdown. MORE: Craig Berube gets honest about his future after Maple Leafs fire GM “I’m just saying these stats, they’re dead last in everything,” Hayes said.
“Like, the coach has got to, I am sorry, he has got to own that. I know maybe we don’t see eye to eye on that, the three of us. You two [former NHL players Jamie McLennan and Jeff O’Neill] have kind of been in the path of it’s all players all the time, and it is, players are an issue.
“You cannot be a coach in the league and look at that board and say I’m doing a great job here. This is a disaster. ” Hayes insisted that while roster construction matters in the long term, coaching impact is immediate and visible on the ice.
“It’s for five or ten years down the road,” Hayes said. “Who’s the manager going to be? That’s what’s going to matter in terms of projecting where I think this team’s going.