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The Toronto Maple Leafs have hired veteran coach John Gruden as the next head coach of the AHL Toronto Marlies.
The 53-year-old was an assistant to Jack Adams winner Jim Montgomery with the Boston Bruins last season and had served on Barry Trotz’s ataff with the New York Islanders from 2018-22. Gruden also has head coaching experience with the Hamilton Bulldogs and Flint Firebirds of the OHL.
John Gruden has been hired as Head Coach of the @TorontoMarlies
— Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) July 4, 2023
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TSN’s Chris Johnston indicated not surprisingly that the signings of Tyler Bertuzzi and Max Domi all but guarantee the buyout of Matt Murray’s final year. The Leafs will have to sign Ilya Samsonov after going to salary arbitration, and the cap savings on a Murray buyout will likely be in the same neighborhood as a new deal for Samsonov.
Unless there is a softening of a stance on the part of agent Lewis Gross, and Nylander’s number comes down under $9 million, my suspicion is that the winger has priced himself out of the market and will eventually be traded at some point.
GM Brad Treliving likely knows what he can get for Nylander, whether it be a prospect and first-round pick to clear nearly $7 million in cap space to sign other players, or in exchange for another player with short-term remaining that the Leafs can fit in their salary structure.