Joe Pavelski confirms interview for Leafs head coaching job
One of the more surprising names to come out of the Toronto Maple Leafs‘ search for a new head coach was Joe Pavelski. Sportsnet insider Elliotte Friedman reported on Sunday’s episode of 32 Thoughts that the former NHL center was interviewing for the position, a name which many found unexpected, yet intriguing.
Apparently, Pavelski’s candidacy wasn’t the only intriguing thing about the process. While at the media day for the American Century Championship on Thursday, Pavelski confirmed that he had interviewed for the position, to which he called the process for the interview “intriguing”.
Joe Pavelski confirms he’s had conversations with the Toronto Maple Leafs about their head coaching position. “We have had discussions there … it's been very interesting and intriguing in a lot of ways. We're going to go through the process and see where it leads to.”
“We have had discussions there,” Pavelski said. “It’s been very interesting and intriguing in a lot of ways. We’re going to go through the process and see where it leads to.”
Pavelski did not go into details about why he found the process intriguing. Considering this is the first time his name has surfaced for an NHL head coaching position, it’s possible that he just finds the general process interesting, and is happy to have gone as far into the process as he has. That said, the Leafs have cast a wide net when searching for their next head coach, so perhaps there are other elements to the coaching search that the public wouldn’t know about that would be intriguing.
Pavelski doesn’t have any professional experience as a hockey coach, as he has only coached the Madison Capitals AAA teams for the 14U and 15U age groups in 2024-25 and 2025-26, respectively, both teams featuring his son Nate on their rosters. Beyond that, Pavelski hasn’t coached at the professional level or even the major junior level. However, this is not the only recent example of an NHL team hiring a head coach with limited experience, as the Montreal Canadiens hired Martin St. Louis in 2022 after he had only coached his sons’ peewee, AA and AAA teams (along with one year as a consultant for the Columbus Blue Jackets).
But what Pavelski lacks in head coaching experience, he has in experience as a player. He spent 18 seasons in the NHL with the San Jose Sharks and Dallas Stars, playing in 1,332 regular season games and 201 playoff games, including two appearances in the Stanley Cup Final in 2016 and 2020, although he never won the elusive trophy. Considered one of the game’s better two-way power forwards during his prime, he had 476 goals, 592 assists and 1,068 points in the regular season and 74 goals, 69 assists and 143 points in the playoffs. He received votes for the Selke in 14 of his 18 seasons, finishing as high as seventh in 2020-21, so his defensive prowess may prove useful as a head coach.