Craig Berube says the opportunity to help a team with a wealth of talent get over the hump in the playoffs was a driving force in becoming head coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Berube was introduced at a press conference as the NHL team’s newest coach on Tuesday.
He takes over the job from Sheldon Keefe, who was fired on May 9 after Toronto was eliminated in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs by Boston.
Keefe put up a combined 212-97-40 record over parts of five campaigns in Toronto, but was just 16-21 in the post-season, including a 1-5 series mark.
The Leafs failed to achieve sustained success after finally breaking out of the first round for the first time since 2004, when they defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning in six games in 2022-23.
Oaten was the first goalie selected in the entire draft, and was a prospect that Hurricanes general manager Peter Anholt said the team had been eyeing for a long time.
The Calgary native appeared in 12 regular season games in 2023-24 with the Edge U15 Prep team.
He finished with an impressive 11-1-0-0 record collecting a 2.90 goals against average and a .914 save percentage.
He says he is excited to join an organization with a history of strong goaltending.
