Retired NHL hockey star Joe Pavelski confirmed to reporters on Thursday that he is interviewing for the Toronto Maple Leafs head coaching job.
TSN Hockey Insider Pierre LeBrun said on Sunday that Pavelski is among five candidates that moved to the team’s second phase of interviews before they make a decision.
“There’s truth to that stuff, we’ve had discussions,” Pavelski told Curtis Pashelka of the Bay Area News Group. “I’m excited to go through the process and kind of see where it leads.”
Pavelski is two seasons removed from his playing days where he registered 476 goals and 1,068 points in 1,332 career games split between the San Jose Sharks and Dallas Stars.
The 5-foot-11 centre helped lead the Sharks to the Stanley Cup Final in 2016 and then the Stars to the championship series in 2020.
The Maple Leafs fired Craig Berube as head coach on May 13 after two seasons, hiring John Chayka as general manager and Hall of Famer Mats Sundin as senior executive advisor of hockey operations 10 days prior.
According to LeBrun, Chayka has spoken to more than 20 candidates as part of the first phase of the process and TSN Hockey Insider Darren Dreger reported on June 3 that Patrick Roy and Peter Laviolette were both interviewed as part of their search.
Laviolette has since been hired as the new head coach of the Los Angeles Kings.
The Maple Leafs finished last in the Atlantic Division with a 32-26-14 record, missing the playoffs for the first time since the 2015-16 campaign.
Toronto holds the No.1 draft pick at the 2026 NHL Draft in Buffalo on June 26.
