Maple Leafs coaching change may screw the Ottawa Senators.

The heated rivalry known as the Battle of Ontario between the Ottawa Senators and Toronto Maple Leafs may be continuing off the ice despite the fact that the 2023-24 National Hockey League regular season has now officially come to a close for both teams.

For some time now we have heard rumors that have linked former St. Louis Blues head coach Craig Berube to the Ottawa Senators, but that no longer appears to be the case. The timing of this, fresh off the Maple Leafs being eliminated from the Stanley Cup playoffs, is certainly interesting.

"I mentioned on Friday that [Craig Berube] is considered high on Ottawa and New Jersey's list," revealed Friedman on the 32 Thoughts podcast.

Interestingly enough, Friedman seems to believe that, since Friday, something has changed that has resulted in the Ottawa Senators being knocked out of the running. That being said, it doesn't sound like Berube is a shoe in to be the next coach of the New Jersey Devils, with another big player potentially interested in Berube's services.

"I had some people tell me they don't think it's gonna be Ottawa," admitted Friedman. "I'm not saying that means it's going to be definitely Jersey, because I think Toronto may weigh in on this. But I've had a few people tell me don't hitch your wagon to Berube and the Senators. In coaching circles that seems to have died down."

Could the sudden interest of the Toronto Maple Leafs have impacted the likelihood of Berube landing in Ottawa? Well there was a very interesting moment on the TNT broadcast of Game 7 between the Vegas Golden Knights and Dallas Stars on Sunday night involving the man of the hour himself, Craig Berube. During the intermission, Paul Bissonnette outright stated that he would reveal Berube as the next head coach of the Maple Leafs, and many have focused in on how Berube reacted to that comment.

Berube sounds like he may be the most highly coveted coach on the market in the NHL right now, so it will be a big win for whichever teams ends up singing him, If the Maple Leafs do make this move, perhaps Maple Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe will serve as suitable consolation prize for one of the team's that fails to secure Berube's services.