The Toronto Maple Leafs hired new associate coach and Ottawa Senators icon Daniel Alfredsson. His hiring is a coup for new Leafs GM John Chakya, who still has other important decisions to make this summer.
In an off-season in which they've been newsmakers virtually every day, the Toronto Maple Leafs' most shocking move might've come Tuesday afternoon.
The team hired former NHL star and Hockey Hall of Famer Daniel Alfredsson as an associate coach under new coach Jim Hiller.
That's right, Daniel Alfredsson – the greatest Ottawa Senators player of all-time – will now be working for the Maple Leafs team he battled diligently during his 18-year NHL career.
If you're a Senators fan, you have to be sickened by this development, even if it's a professional step up for Alfredsson.
The 53-year-old was an assistant coach in Ottawa since December 2023, but the subtle change to his job title in Toronto is important, as an “associate coach” always carries more weight than the "assistant" title.
Senators owner Michael Andlauer quickly released a statement on Alfredsson leaving for Toronto.
"One of the first moves (Andlauer) made after taking over the franchise was bringing Daniel Alfredsson back into the fold as an assistant coach in December of 2023… While I wish he wasn't joining an arch rival, Alfie is forever an Ottawa Senator, and the door will always be open for his return. He has done so much for our organization and community, and he has my full respect."
Alfredsson joining fellow Swedish legend and Leafs senior executive advisor Mats Sundin will certainly win him fans in Toronto's dressing room, including star right winger William Nylander and defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson.
But the optics of stealing away a Senators icon isn't going to sit well with Sens fans who already this summer have had to stomach the indignity of captain Brady Tkachuk engineering his way out of town and to an Atlantic Division rival in the Florida Panthers. And in Toronto's room, the addition of a widely respected veteran in Alfredsson is going to be seen as a major coup.
Certainly, the Maple Leafs' public relations staff has had almost a daily workout sending news releases regarding hirings, firings, trades and free-agent signings this off-season. But there are still going to be days when they're back in the news cycle.
For one thing, there's the ongoing saga of Morgan Rielly that needs to come to a head.
Rielly remains in trade rumors, and although Leafs GM John Chayka has spoken about the team's willingness to go to training camp with Rielly on the roster, you have to believe that's a negotiating tactic and that Chayka doesn't intend on giving away Rielly just for cap space.
The Leafs also will have to address the future of right winger Max Domi, who is coming off complications from surgery and may not factor into Toronto's plans until he's healthy enough to rejoin the team.
Domi is very well-liked in Toronto's dressing room, but as Chayka looks to free up cap space, moving him once he's healthy will certainly be an option for Maple Leafs management.
There are probably other fringe moves coming, including decisions about the future of veterans, such as defenseman Phil Myers and forwards Steven Lorentz, Michael Pezzetta and Bo Groulx.
With defenseman Emil Andrae leaping over Myers in the Leafs' depth chart, and with Colton Sissons, Teddy Blueger, Brandon Duhaime and Nick Paul now ahead of Lorentz, Groulx and Pezzetta in the Leafs' top four forward lines, there will have to be additional roster moves.
Chayka currently is about $2.7 million over the cap ceiling, but the NHL's collective bargaining agreement allows teams to go above the ceiling by 10 percent in the off-season. So Chayka has time to prune his roster and improve the team as much as possible.
In their announcement of Alfredsson's hiring, the Leafs also announced assistant coaches Derek Lalonde and Mike Van Ryn wouldn't be returning.
As well, Hiller hired AHL-affiliate coach John Gruden and former NHL player Brad Werenka as assistant coaches.
Gruden just won a Calder Cup championship with the AHL's Toronto Marlies, while Werenka worked as an assistant coach for the University of Calgary's men's program. Hiller now has a full staff of coaches, and they'll have the rest of the summer to assemble a blueprint for success in Leafs Land.
That said, the news cycle keeps on churning, and if there's one thing we've learned this off-season, it's that Chayka is as bold a GM as it gets when it comes to being a newsmaker.
Chayka is proving to be almost the polar opposite of Brad Treliving, his predecessor in Toronto. Treliving more or less had trade paralysis in his tenure running the Maple Leafs, but Chayka really hasn't stopped making changes. That could lead to a stunning turnaround for the Buds.
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