The Boston coach who suffocated Auston Matthews for years is now a Maple Leafs candidate
Photo credit: Dan Hamilton-Imagn Images
Jay Leach was the guy who made life miserable for Auston Matthews whenever he faced Boston, and now is a potential candidate to lead him to glory.
Jay Leach has been in charge of Boston's irritatingly pesky defence that Auston Matthews haste to figure out. Now Leach is a candidate for the vacant Maple Leafs job and able to help the captain bloom instead of shutting him down.
A lot of that has to do with how Boston smothered the Maple Leafs captain and all fingers can point to assistant Jay Leach for implementing a strategy that effectively shut down Matthews when it mattered most.
A 12-year veteran of the AHL, NHL and ECHL as a player, Leach has spent an additional six seasons as both an assistant coach and head coach at the AHL level before spending two years with Seattle, then moving back to the Bruins organization.
Every Leafs fan who watched Boston suffocate Matthews in the playoffs knows exactly what Leach brings
But his name has been thrown around as a first-time head coach who could be one of the frontrunners for the vacant Maple Leafs job, and with a focus on adding some fresh voices behind the bench, it makes sense.
A fantastic communicator, Leach provides players with an easily accessible coach who has a knack for finding the best in his players and getting them to find that inner leadership quality that pushes them to the next level.
He sees the game at an advanced level though is more than willing to work with players to maximize their strengths while addressing their needs. If someone feels they deserve the opportunity, Leach will give it to them so long as he's still following the overall plan.
Boston felt like such a tight brotherhood who always stood up for each other and took umbrage with anyone getting in their face. That only comes with a coach who makes the locker room a calming place to be.
One time during the COVID-19 season in Providence, Leach took the time to make sure that the locker room was still as close as ever, even having a makeshift barbecue for the players according to Providence GM John Ferguson:
We had zero positive cases throughout that entire time. He went out of his way to make our players feel supported, comfortable. He personally at times brought over a smoker grill, put it outside our locker room out in the street, set it up and cooked for everybody.
That type of leadership, flexibility, and care is the perfect combination to elevate the entire Maple Leafs locker room.
The most analytical hire on the Maple Leafs shortlist also happens to be the most emotionally complicated one
But here comes the one caveat which is hiring a guy from a team that has not only torched your team on the ice, but completely dismantled their future three times. If Toronto hadn't lucked out this past draft lottery, things would have been worse.
It's a little conspiratorial, but there could be a world where Toronto brings Leach aboard but he doesn't necessarily ushers full potential, or find himself a bit more lacking in aggressiveness every time the Bruins and Maple Leafs meet.
Plus there has to be the Auston Matthews influence, where he may have a coach in mind or may be a bit untrusting of Leach especially after being neutralized by the Bruins.
There are several other coaches who could fit the bill as first-timers including Misha Donskov and Manny Malhotra so if the Maple Leafs wanted to make sure they were still getting a rookie coach then they can still do so without the whole emotional aspect.
But passing up on talking to Leach would be a disservice to the work he's put in over the past few years. He deserves an NHL job and the Maple Leafs have an open spot just ready for him.
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