Maple Leafs announce two more firings after Craig Berube's exit
Photo credit: Dan Hamilton-Imagn Images
Craig Berube is already gone, and the Maple Leafs just pushed the reset deeper into the front office.
This is no longer a coaching change.
Toronto moving on from assistant general managers Brandon Pridham and Derek Clancey points to something bigger: a full teardown of the old decision room.
Berube was removed on May 13, 2026, after Toronto finished 32-36-14 and missed the playoffs.
Now two more senior voices are out, and that makes the message sharper.
The Leafs are not just changing the bench. They are changing who gets heard before the roster is built.
Leafs reset reaches the power structure
Pridham's exit matters because he was tied to the cap table, contract structure, and the kind of tight-money maneuvering Toronto leaned on for years.
Clancey's departure matters for a different reason.
He was part of the player-personnel layer, the group that helps shape evaluations before trades, signings, and internal promotions reach the top desk.
When a club removes the head coach and then cuts into assistant GM roles days later, it usually means the new hockey leadership wants fewer inherited fingerprints.
The next Leafs coach will not just walk into Berube's old job. He will walk into a different chain of command.
This also raises pressure on John Chayka. Once the inherited voices leave, the excuses leave with them.
Toronto's next roster decisions will carry his stamp, from the blue line to the cap sheet to the next bench hire.
The Leafs are acting like a team that believes the problem was not one voice behind the bench.
They are acting like the room itself needed to be cleared.
Also read on House Of Hockey :
Canadiens and Sabres wait on NHL after hit raises suspension question
Canadiens and Sabres wait on NHL after hit raises suspension question