A familiar name has cropped up in the Edmonton Oilers' search for a new bench boss.
The Oilers have received permission to talk to former Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube, Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman reported Monday.
Berube was fired by the Maple Leafs last Wednesday after a disappointing season behind the bench.
Toronto finished with a 32-36-14 record, good for a last-place finish in the Atlantic, only a year removed from winning the division and advancing to Round 2 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. It marked the first time since 2016 that the Leafs didn't make the playoffs.
Meanwhile, the Oilers fired head coach Kris Knoblauch last Thursday after a first-round playoff exit at the hands of the Anaheim Ducks.
Knoblauch had brought the team to two straight Stanley Cup Finals, but had fallen short on both occasions.
"When we performed our analysis and our review about where we headed as a team, we just felt that we needed a different voice to lead us to where we want to get to," Oilers general manager Stan Bowman said of Knoblauch after his dismissal.
Whether Berube is that voice is yet to be seen, but the 60-year-old coach comes with championship pedigree, having won the Cup in 2019 with the St. Louis Blues. Over his eight seasons as a head coach, the Calahoo, Alta., native has a 365-252-90 regular-season record and a 34-37 playoff record.
Other candidates for the Oilers job are not yet clear, but it was previously reported that the team had also asked to interview former Vegas Golden Knights head coach Bruce Cassidy. At that time, permission was withheld by the Oilers' division rival.
