The Toronto Maple Leafs are going into the 2026-27 NHL season with an entirely new coaching staff, with Jim Hiller steering the ship from behind the bench.
It was a much-needed shakeup after the Maple Leafs missed the Stanley Cup playoffs for the first time since that streak started in 2016-17. With that change, particularly the hire of Hiller, turned heads.
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In the process of searching for a new bench boss, Toronto had reported links to the likes of Peter Laviolette, Patrick Roy, Jay Woodcroft, Dallas Eakins, and even Joe Pavelski. But there weren’t many hints about Hiller returning to the Maple Leafs organization for a second stint, this time as the 41st head coach in the franchise’s history, instead of an assistant, as he was from 2015-16 to 2018-19 with Toronto.
Part of the reason for that is how Hiller’s tenure with the Los Angeles Kings played out. Under Hiller, the Kings were a very mediocre team offensively at their best. At their worst, they were a team that kept a tight, defensive system but struggled mightily to score goals, which ultimately led to his firing on March 1.
Therefore, Hiller is certainly going into this coming season with a chip on his shoulder and something to prove.
Indeed, his system with Los Angeles led to average results and dull hockey, but that was a different team. The Kings didn’t have superstar offensive talents such as Auston Matthews and William Nylander. Not to mention threats like John Tavares, Matthew Knies, Gavin McKenna, and others.
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Hiller will have the opportunity to show that he’s not just a coach who has his team sit back and defend. In fact, when he was an assistant in Toronto, he was in charge of the team’s power play, meaning he can incorporate an attacking approach into his team’s play.
His time with the Kings was his only stint as a head coach in the NHL. With that, there isn’t much of a successful sample size to say that Hiller is a top coach in the league and capable of guiding the Leafs back to the playoffs. After all, he finished 24th in TheHockeyNews.com’s NHL head coach ranking.
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But if he’s going to rewrite that narrative, he’ll have to do it under some real pressure, not just because of where the Maple Leafs stand based on failure from this past year, but also because of the market.
Hiller may not rank as highly among his peers with the most to prove this coming year like GM John Chayka might, but the Leafs’ head coach is definitely in the top 10 in that regard.
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