The Maple Leafs have announced the hirings for head coach Jim Hiller’s new staff, including John Gruden (assistant), Brad Werenka (assistant), and — by far the biggest headline-grabber — Daniel Alfredsson as associate coach.
“I’m incredibly excited to add Daniel, John and Brad to our coaching staff. Daniel’s experience, leadership and understanding of the game speak for themselves. John has established himself as one of the top coaches in the American Hockey League and played an instrumental role in leading the Marlies to a Calder Cup championship last season. Brad brings a unique combination of NHL experience, player development and expertise in performance analytics. Together, they’ll be outstanding additions to our team.”
– Jim Hiller
The irony of this news breaking on the same day Senators fans celebrated Claude Giroux picking Ottawa over Toronto…
The appeal of working with compatriot Mats Sundin and the Maple Leafs, with a bigger title (associate), appears to have motivated Alfredsson to pull the ultimate turncoat move in an NHL offseason that keeps providing juicy storyline after juicy storyline. In Toronto alone, if someone had told us back in April that John Chayka, Mats Sundin, Jim Hiller, Daniel Alfredsson, Gavin McKenna, and Sergei Bobrovsky would all play or work for the Leafs…
Alfredsson ran the Senators’ power play with mixed results this past season. It was a consistent top-10 unit in the regular season, operating at 24 percent (eighth overall), but it absolutely tanked in the playoffs in comical fashion (1-for-21) as the Senators were swept aside by Carolina. They struggled to adapt to the Hurricanes’ aggressive press at the points, and their predictability and eroding confidence on the man advantage quickly became easy pickings for Rod Brind’Amour’s well-drilled penalty kill. It absolutely killed the Senators throughout the series, and many Sens fans will likely find some solace in this aspect of Alfredsson’s departure after their franchise icon once again deserted Ottawa for a proper Original Six franchise.
There has been no official word on the status of Steve Sullivan, who took over from Marc Savard and helped revive the Leafs’ moribund power play during the second half of last season. It remains to be seen whether the power play will fall under Alfredsson’s purview in Toronto.
Notably, Alfredsson started as a development coach for the Senators and remained active in that role even as his title evolved. In general, the Senators have maintained a strong recent track record of developing their own draft picks, including Tim Stutzle, Shane Pinto, Jake Sanderson, Tyler Kleven, and Ridly Greig. As one example, Alfredsson was heavily involved in Stutzle’s development as he evolved from a talented but raw player who was a net negative at five-on-five into a more mature and well-rounded center. While still a work in progress (as evidenced in these past playoffs), Stutzle has consistently won his five-on-five minutes over the past few seasons while producing over a point per game.
In Ottawa, Alfredsson would regularly work with players after practice, often providing shooting pointers. The Leafs almost certainly view the former Calder Trophy winner and multiple 40-goal scorer as a positive influence for Gavin McKenna as the young winger breaks into the league (and has another level to find with his shot).
On a similar note regarding player development, John Gruden, fresh off leading the Toronto Marlies to an AHL championship, has now returned to the NHL as an assistant coach.
This is a particularly interesting move for him personally. Gruden has already spent six seasons as an NHL assistant with the Islanders — where he worked with Hiller — and the Bruins before coming to Toronto, where he coached the Marlies for the past three seasons, culminating in a Calder Cup championship. He doesn’t really need additional NHL experience, and with Alfredsson being named associate coach, this is, truthfully, a bit of a lateral move professionally. That said, becoming part of a successful Leafs team could create future head coaching opportunities — just ask Lane Lambert, Spencer Carbery, Dave Hakstol, or Manny Malhotra.
From the Leafs’ perspective, it’s an excellent addition. Gruden gives them a direct connection to and advocate for the Marlies players he just won a championship with, most notably Easton Cowan, and potentially, at some point next season, Bo Groulx, William Villeneuve, Ben Danford, and Artur Akhtyamov.
Last season, the Leafs waited far too long to recall Marlies players, and when they finally did, they often deployed them poorly or inappropriately (Jacob Quillan being the prime example). Promoting Gruden to the NHL staff should hopefully eliminate some of that disconnect and encourage a greater willingness to tap more-than-capable Marlies players on the shoulder when injuries or underperformance call for it.
As an assistant with both the Islanders and Bruins, Gruden’s primary focus was defense and team structure. With Mike Van Ryn now out the door, there is a natural role for him to slide into.
Under Van Ryn, the Leafs’ defensive play largely collapsed over the past few seasons. They retreated into a shell and spent far too much time hemmed in their own zone. To be fair, the Marlies similarly spent some long stretches defending, particularly early in the playoffs, when they were regularly outshot. That began to change during the second half of the postseason after Ben Danford emerged. Even throughout the regular season, that veteran Marlies team had stretches where it struggled in this department. Under Hiller’s leadership, these systems/structures need a revamp.
Brad Werenka is a relative unknown at the NHL level, having arrived from the University of Calgary, but he also co-founded an analytics company with Hiller. That existing relationship makes this hire a logical fit.
The Leafs were among the league’s worst teams last season in many of the underlying metrics that matter. Hiring someone with a strong analytics background doesn’t automatically solve those problems. You could argue Derek Lalonde understood the numbers well, given how frequently he discussed them while working as a Sportsnet analyst during the Leafs’ playoff series against the Senators in 2025. His hiring, however, didn’t produce any obvious improvements in that regard.
What is clear, if nothing else, is that Hiller is surrounding himself with people he knows, trusts, and has established relationships with. You can see those connections throughout the staff, from Gruden and Hiller working together for NYI, to Alfredsson’s friendship with Sundin, to Hiller’s business partnership with Werenka.
The past season and a half felt like a disconnected mess between management and the coaching staff. Recognizing that, John Chayka said a few weeks ago that he wants complete alignment, with the coaching staff acting as an extension of the front office, with “no space” between them. Hopefully, there is more cohesion in place now, with everyone on the same page. Considering all the new players management has added this week, plus the addition of a first-overall prospect to the mix, they will certainly need to be.
