New Maple Leafs head coach Mike Babcock (that sounds weird) appears to be wasting no time in assembling his coaching staff, as reports out of Detroit on Friday indicated that Red Wings assistant coach Jim Hiller will be coming to Toronto.
The 46-year-old British Columbia native won WHL and CHL Coach of the Year honors as bench boss of the Tri-City Americans in 2012 and joined the Red Wings last season to handle their power play, which ended up 2nd in the NHL.
Toronto will likely be adding another two assistants at the NHL level, as well as a head coach and assistant coach to replace Gord Dineen and Ben Simon with the Toronto Marlies. Former Tampa head coach Guy Boucher and Jack Adams Trophy winner Paul Maclean may be in the mix for Babcock’s staff if other NHL opportunities do not come to fruition, while Soo Greyhounds coach Sheldon Keefe is a candidate for the top spot with the Leafs AHL affiliate.
The club continued to add to their management team this week with the addition of Saginaw Spirit GM Jim Paliafito as Director of Player Evaluation, but the GM position may not be filled until after the NHL Draft. Team President Brendan Shanahan in comments following Thursday’s press conference stated that the Leafs preference would be to add someone with NHL management experience.
Brandon Wheat Kings owner/GM/coach Kelly McCrimmon’s name has also started to be mentioned in connection with the GM job, but his credentials for the job match current Director of Player Personnel Mark Hunter, who do not have any experience at the NHL level.
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One factor in the eventual hiring of a GM currently employed by another team is compensation. To bring Mike Babcock into the fold, the Leafs had to agree to give the Red Wings a third round pick in either 2015, 2016 or 2017(which year is Toronto’s choice).
Candidates like Tampa assistant GM’s Julien Brisebois and Pat Verbeek, Jeff Gorton of the New York Rangers and Kings VP of Hockey Operations Mike Futa will likely also necessitate a draft pick going the other way.
Futa has a multi-year deal with the Kings and was promoted from Director of Pro Scouting last summer after getting some feelers from other NHL teams and is widely regarded as integral to Los Angeles being one of the deepest organizations in the NHL.
The presence of Rob Blake as the possible heir to Dean Lombardi and rumors that Futa considers the Toronto position his dream job could make his coming to the Leafs a reality in early July, but unless the Kings are feeling magnanimous and allow him to go back to his hometown with no restrictions, it could cost the Leafs a future draft pick.
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Watch the latest edition of Leaf Buzz with Rotowire’s Paul Bruno and myself, as we discuss the Babcock signing and what the Leafs will do next:
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