After Tuesday’s practice, Jim Hiller discussed the impact of Sergei Bobrovsky’s presence on the team, his plans for the defense pairs, Easton Cowan’s potential linemates, and his relationship with William Nylander.
What has stood out about Sergei Bobrovsky’s presence? The players talk about him with such reverence.
Hiller: It’s really hard to describe. You watch different athletes at the pinnacle of their sport winning championships, and he fits that bill. Beyond playing as well as he has and having the career he’s had, he’s a champion. He’s such a humble guy and so dedicated to being a professional athlete, a goaltender, and a champion.
We’ve all — and I would include myself in that — just really enjoyed being around him. He’s got a great presence to him. But mark my words: He’s a fierce competitor. He’s a gentleman, and he’ll treat you with respect, but inside, this guy is doing everything he can to win. It’s just great to have him around.
What impact can bringing in a player with that championship pedigree have on the team?
Hiller: I would hope it’s going to make a big one, and I think I’ve seen some of that already. I think John mentioned it: We had our leadership meeting, and when he speaks, you listen. He’s soft-spoken — you’ve got to lean in a little bit — and it’s coming from the best place.
I would think it’s had a positive effect already. It’s hard to measure it, right? We’ll see as the season goes on. But I talk to different players, and they’re just like, “I love this guy.” How can you not?
Has anything about his off-ice preparation stood out to you? It’s the stuff of legend.
Hiller: It is legendary. I’ve tried to stay away because that’s not my job, necessarily, and I’ve got enough things to overthink. But I have heard some of the things. Again, it’s just the commitment to it. That’s what you love.
Bobrovsky called goaltending an individual sport within a team sport. What do you make of that?
Hiller: He’s out there by himself. Everybody else gets to come to the bench, sit down, talk to the coaches, and talk to their teammates. It’s unique. He’s not wrong. You’re out there by yourself, and you get a chance after the period is over to sit with your guys, but you don’t get a break.
I’ve never done it, but I can imagine you have to have some good self-talk and calm yourself down — all those good things. You don’t have your teammates there, necessarily, to support you. In fact, the less time you see your teammates, probably the better if you’re a goalie, right? Because they’re in the other end.
What stands out about coaching William Nylander? What is your relationship with him like, and what is the key to reaching him as a coach?
Hiller: I’ve always really liked Willy. I told the story: When I first took over as a head coach in the NHL, the first player — ex-player — I heard from was Willy. I hadn’t talked to him in years, and it really meant something to me.
I think we have a good relationship that way. We spent a lot of time together before, and I look forward to helping him out here. He wants to be so good. I know he trains and does all that stuff. Some of the things we’ve seen out here in practice the last couple of days have been really impressive.
I don’t know if you noticed, but we ended the last practice on an incredible backcheck by Willy and a stick lift all the way down. We’re seeing some really, really good stuff out of him.
The NHL has traditionally valued size, especially among defensemen. What do your three undersized defensemen need to do to overcome that?
Hiller: I think the league has probably shifted a little bit on that. Before, at some point, the small defenseman was a real unicorn in the league. You’re seeing more and more of them as it’s trended toward more skating and up-tempo hockey. But in the end, a defenseman’s job is to play defense and to be able to defend.
The way they train, they’re strong, and it’s not just about size. All things considered, you’d want big and fast and all these things, but you can’t get it in every single player. Different players have different attributes. If you can play in the NHL and do the job, it shouldn’t really matter.
What have you seen from those three — Blankenburg, Andrae, and Stecher?
Hiller: I haven’t seen as much from those guys, obviously. I saw Andrae last year when we played against him. I’ve seen Stecher a lot because I’ve played against him a lot, and Blankenburg just a little bit also. But I would say this about all three of them: They’re very competitive. If you’re going to be undersized, you’d better be competitive, and we’re seeing that out of them.
What do you like about pairing Rielly with Raddysh and Tanev with McCabe, rather than splitting them up to balance the pairs?
Hiller: We’ll probably try to match up Tanev and McCabe as much as we can. That doesn’t mean Rielly and Raddysh, or [Oliver Ekman-Larsson] and whoever he’s playing with, won’t play against other teams’ top lines, but just generally. If we get opportunities to put Rielly and Raddysh in the offensive zone with our top six, we’ll look to do that if we can, again within reason. That’s the thought right now. It could change.
How can Colton Sissons and Nick Paul help bring Easton Cowan’s offensive talent to the fore?
Hiller: Even in practice today, those two are really good forecheckers. We would really love for Easton to develop into that type of player, too, and I think he’s on his path. But he is definitely a little more of a skilled player.
Those guys loosen up pucks. They give him opportunities to be there second, to jam it up the wall for him to come off the wall and find the D. It’s good to have those types of players around.
I also believe in the real veteran presence of those two guys. Everybody says you’ve got to play right, and it might be a cliché, but when you play with two veteran players who do it right, it’s hard not to do it yourself. The coach can say it all day long, but if those two guys are saying, “Hey, this is how we go,” I think that matters more.
Can Sissons and Paul be interchangeable at center?
Hiller: Yeah, I do [see that]. I think they’ve talked about it already. It could even be period to period and night to night, on back-to-backs. It’s a harder job. Whoever arrives first, no problem.
That’s really what I like about what John did this summer. He gave us some real options. Nick can play left wing somewhere else, Sissons can run in the middle, and we could put Sissons up in the top six, or Nick. We can do a lot of different things with the flexibility those guys give us down the middle.
Practice Lines – Sep. 22
Leafs lines at practice
Knies – Matthews – Roslovic
McKenna – Tavares – Nylander
Cowan – Paul – Sissons
Lorentz – Blueger – Duhaime
GroulxRielly- Raddysh
McCabe – Tanev
Ekman-Larsson – Stecher
Andrae – BlankenburgBobrovsky
Stolarz
Bonello @TSN_Sports pic.twitter.com/8ZYJwlrciq— Mark Masters (@markhmasters) September 22, 2026
Leafs PP units at practice:
QB: Raddysh
Flanks: Matthews, Nylander
Middle: Roslovic
Net front: TavaresQB: Rielly
Flanks: McKenna, Cowan
Middle: Paul
Net front: Knies@TSN_Sports pic.twitter.com/z7MtO7B3tr— Mark Masters (@markhmasters) September 22, 2026
