Jeff Halpern, a former captain in Washington, may find himself in the mix for the bench-boss vacancy that has opened up in Toronto.
Hailing from Potomac, Maryland, Halpern has put in eight seasons as one of Jon Cooper's aides down in Tampa, yet he could attract attention as a candidate for a premier league job. As he dissected Toronto's coaching pursuit on Sportsnet's FAN Hockey program, the analyst Elliotte Friedman dropped Halpern's name into the discussion.
Friedman remarked that Halpern was another figure he kept thinking about. He noted that the recurring concern clubs have raised with Halpern is his lack of head-coaching experience, prompting Friedman to wonder whether teams expect him to take an AHL post first. Even so, Friedman suggested Halpern might be a name Toronto is keeping an eye on.
Halpern opened his NHL playing days with a six-season stint in Washington, his hometown organization. He returned to the franchise for an additional year during 2011-12 before closing out his pro tenure in Phoenix across 2013-14. All told, the 976 games he played were split among the Rangers, the Kings, the Stars, the Canadiens, the Lightning, the Coyotes, and the Capitals.
Only one season after his playing career ended, Halpern began coaching in 2016 with Syracuse, the AHL affiliate in Tampa's system, working first in development and later in an assistant capacity. He logged three campaigns in the minors before stepping onto Cooper's staff amid the 2018-19 season.
Ever since, he has hoisted a pair of Cups in Tampa, even though his own playing days yielded a trip through just one playoff round, back in 2012 while in Washington. His name has come up previously as a prospective future bench boss around the league, and reports indicate he even interviewed in Washington ahead of the club's 2023 hire of Spencer Carbery.
Friedman went on to say he had picked up during the search that certain voices figured the Leafs would lean toward a veteran option. Yet, he added, Toronto didn't appear locked into that idea and instead seemed focused on landing the right candidate. According to Friedman, if that person happened to be somewhat younger or handling a first job, the team didn't sound the least bit hesitant about it.
Additional possibilities Friedman cited included Misha Donskov, Steve Sullivan, David Carle, Mike Van Ryn, Manny Malhotra, and Bruce Cassidy. The vacancy up north opened when the club parted with Craig Berube during the week, ending a two-year run behind the bench.