The Toronto Maple Leafs are expected to hire three new coaches to their staff, including longtime Ottawa Senators legend Daniel Alfredsson as associate head coach. Toronto Marlies head coach John Gruden along with former University of Calgary assistant coach Brad Werenka will also be joining Hiller’s staff as assistant coaches.

“I’m incredibly excited to add Daniel, John and Brad to our coaching staff,” said Maple Leafs Head Coach Jim Hiller in a press release from the team. “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.”

Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman was first to report the news of Alfredsson joining the team, while the Maple Leafs made the Gruden and Werenka announcements official.

The Maple Leafs are going to bring Alfredsson onto their coaching staff as their associate head coach after he spent the past two-and-a-half years on the Senators’ coaching staff. He was originally hired as a player development coach before being promoted to assistant coach following D.J. Smith’s firing in December 2023.

This is a shocking revelation, to say the least. Bringing in a household name from a rival organization is one thing – the Leafs did have Jason Spezza for the twilight of his career, after all. But Alfredsson was arguably the most hated player in the NHL among Leafs fans during the prime of the Battle of Ontario in the early 2000s. Between his controversial hit on Darcy Tucker in Game 5 of the 2002 Eastern Conference semi-finals to mocking Mats Sundin’s broken stick suspension a few years later, this would be the hockey equivalent of the New York Yankees hiring David Ortiz as their next manager.

Speaking of Sundin, the connection between the two former Battle of Ontario captains had to play a big part here. While the Leafs and Senators hated each other’s guts in the early 2000s (and still do today), Sundin and Alfredsson have always maintained a great respect for each other and even led Sweden to a gold medal at the 2006 Winter Olympic games.

While Alfredsson is commanding most of the attention here, the other two hires are notable, too. Gruden earns a promotion after leading the Toronto Marlies to a Calder Cup Championship in 2025-26, while Werenka takes on a new challenge after getting his feet wet at the U Sports level.

The Maple Leafs announced in the press release that Derek Lalonde and Mike van Ryn will not be returning to the coaching staff.