Assistant coach will return to OHL
Paul McFarland was head coach of the Frontenacs from 2014 to 2017.
Paul McFarland had only nice things to say about his former bosses, Mike Babcock and Sheldon Keefe, while talking about his upcoming departure from the Toronto Maple Leafs.
The assistant coach, who has been handling Toronto forwards and power play during this tumultuous season, announced Friday that he will return to the OHL as head coach of the Kingston Frontenacs once the Leafs’ 2019-20 season is over.
“Totally enjoyed my Leafs experience,” McFarland said on a conference call.
“Obviously, I was brought in by Mike and I learned a lot in our short time, together with him. Same goes with my experience with Sheldon. I have a lot of respect for him as a head coach and obviously have a great relationship with him, having spent the last number of months working side by side. Really, I have nothing but the utmost respect for both those guys and what they do.”
Asked about the key differences to their approaches, McFarland chose his words carefully.
“I’m not going to get into that today. I just think they’re both obviously very good at what they do. Mike’s resumé speaks for itself and what he’s accomplished in the game, and Sheldon has done a great job.”
It is pure speculation over who might replace McFarland. The Twitter crowd was pushing the affable Bruce Boudreau, a former Leaf who has been a head coach in Washington, Anaheim and Minnesota. Keefe would likely consider one of his former assistants with the AHL Marlies, including A.J. MacLean.
Assistant coaches with the Leafs are typically not allowed to speak to the media, per team policy, but McFarland’s future return to the junior ranks was an apparent exception.
McFarland didn’t give away any team secrets when talking about power play, which is sixth in the NHL with a 23.1 per cent success rate (though just 13.9 per cent in the 12 games before play was suspended).
“You always strive to improve,” he said. “If you had the best power play in the league, you’re still going to be thinking about ways you can do things differently. We’ll continue to work at it, if and when we do get back to playing. It was a great group of players to work with, they’re all very coachable.”
McFarland said he blended his ideas with those of a group that includes Mitch Marner, Auston Matthews, John Tavares, William Nylander and Tyson Barrie. “You’re having constantly having little conversations with players. That’s part of your goal is to build those relationships and be in a constant line of communication with them.”
McFarland, a 34-year-old from Richmond Hill, believes his path to an NHL head coaching job lies in being a head coach somewhere else and that he is “grateful for the opportunity” in Kingston. He coached the Frontenacs for three years before taking an assistant’s job with Florida in 2017. He joined the Leafs this season along with former Flyers head coach David Hakstol, who coaches the defence and penalty kill.
McFarland will remain with the Leafs through the end of the season, including playoffs, before joining Kingston. It is possible the Frontenacs might have to start the 2020-21season without him.