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Maple Leafs Reportedly Tied to Recently-Fired NHL Head Coach, Per Elliotte Friedman

Originally posted on House of Hockey | By Jack Sutherland | Last updated Jun 4, 2025 9:08 AM ET

The Toronto Maple Leafs, having lost assistant coach Lane Lambert to the Seattle Kraken, could try and grab Joe Sacco from the divisional foe Boston Bruins.

The Toronto Maple Leafs have already lost assistant coach Lane Lambert from Craig Berube's staff, as he was hired by the Seattle Kraken to fill their vacated role following the termination of Dan Bylsma after only a single year on the job.

There is now an opening behind the bench for the Maple Leafs to oversee their penalty killing units as Lambert did, and they may not be looking very far to fill it.

Per a report from Elliotte Friedman, the Maple Leafs could show interest in Joe Sacco, a longtime assistant coach with the Boston Bruins who took over on an interim basis for the rest of the year following the November termination of Jim Montgomery.

Friedman also confirmed that Sacco will not be back next year for the Bruins as coach after they missed the playoffs for the 1st time since 2015-16.

I believe Joe Sacco was told he will not stay as the head coach of the Boston Bruins. I'm actually kind of wondering if he could end up in Toronto, in place of Lane Lambert. We'll see. But I'm under the impression he was told he won't be staying.

Following the coaching change from Montgomery to Sacco, the Bruins went 25-30-7 the rest of the year and made the painful decision to sell off multiple assets at the Trade Deadline.

Gone was longtime Bruins forward Brad Marchand, who was dealt to the Florida Panthers. Additionally, Charlie Coyle, Trent Frederic, and Brandon Carlo were also dealt out of town.

Bruins general manager Don Sweeney, who was recently re-signed by the club to a new contract, has his hands tied conducting the search for Boston's new full-time head coach.

This article first appeared on House of Hockey and was syndicated with permission.

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