When Brendan Shanahan joined the Toronto Maple Leafs as the team’s president, it triggered a wave of speculation that Peter DeBoer would take over as the Toronto Maple Leafs’ bench boss.
Current Maple Leafs head coach Randy Carlyle might be on his way out after overseeing the Maple Leafs’ stunning collapse and DeBoer’s contract with the New Jersey Devils is set to expire this summer. However, the Devils are closing in on an extending with their bench boss, according to TSN’s Darren Dreger.
DeBoer has overseen the Devils for three years and has only made the playoffs once. However, he did lead New Jersey to the Stanley Cup Final in his only postseason run with the team. New Jersey also entered the 2013-14 campaign with rather low expectations after Ilya Kovalchuk bolted and in that context, the team’s 34-29-18 record is at least respectable.
Before coming to New Jersey, he coached the Florida Panthers for three seasons and has a career 204-183-70 record.