Leafs Continue To Make Changes

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The Toronto Maple Leafs, continue to make changes in the organization under new GM John Chayka. On Tuesday, the club announced that assistant coaches Mike Van Ryn and Derek Lalonde would not be back, and that Hall of Famer Daniel Alfredsson, Calder Cup winner John Gruden, and Brad Werenka would make up Hiller’s staff. Lalonde was quickly hired by the Montreal Canadiens as an assistant under Martin St. Louis.

On Wednesday, there are reports emanating that Director of Amateur Scouting Mark Leach, former Scouting Director Dave Morrison, Assistant GM Darryl Metcalf, and a sizable chunk of the club’s analytics staff have been let go. Leach was hired by former GM Brad Treliving in 2024, while Morrison has served in a variety of roles since 2004. Metcalf was hired in 2014 as an analyst and was promoted by former GM Kyle Dubas to assistant GM in 2022.

Sullivan Hired To Coach Marlies

In the coaching ranks, with the promotion of Gruden to the Leafs staff, former Marlies and Leafs assistant Steve Sullivan was named the head coach of the AHL Marlies on Wednesday, and former Leaf Mark Giordano has been elevated to assistant coach and will join goaltending coach Hannu Toivonen and video coach Nick Biamonte on Sullivan’s coaching staff.

“Steve has earned this opportunity through his work with both the Maple Leafs and Marlies and has built strong relationships with our young players throughout the organization,” Leafs Assistant General Manager Ryan Hardy said in a press release. “His experience as both a player and coach, combined with his commitment to player development, makes him the right person to lead the next generation of Marlies.”

The Leafs also continued to lock up their restricted free agents, confirming the signing of Jacob Quillan to a one-year deal, and announcing the signing of Ryan Tverberg to a one-year deal and defenseman William Villeneuve to a two-year, two-way deal. All the deals are two-way. Quillan is waiver-exempt, but Tverberg and Villeneuve are not.