On May 19th, the Toronto Maple Leafs AHL team, the Toronto Marlies, announced the firings of head coach Greg Moore and two of his assistants, A.J. MacLean and John Snowden.
The Toronto Maple Leafs kept Sheldon Keefe as their head coach but lost assistant coach Spencer Carbery. He left to become the new head coach of the Washington Capitals.
It has been a crazy offseason for the the Leafs coaching staffs so far, but they still have Dean Chynoweth and Manny Malhotra as assistants, but Keefe is working with GM Brad Treliving to find a replacement for Carbery.
Last month, the Toronto Marlies hired John Gruden as their new head coach. Gruden, an assistant with the Boston Bruins this past season, becomes the eighth head coach in Toronto Marlies history. Before his time in Boston, Gruden worked as an assistant coach with the New York Islanders from 2018-22.
Gruden’s resume doesn’t stop there. He posted a 76-45-8-7 record during two seasons with the Hamilton Bulldogs of the OHL. Gruden guided the team to an OHL Championship in 2018. The 53-year-old also served as head coach for the OHL’s Flint Firebirds in 2015-16.
Toronto Maple Leafs Assistant GM Announces Marlies New Assistant Coaches
As for Gruden’s assistants, Ryan Hardy and the Toronto Marlies announced on July 13th the hiring of Michael Dyck and Eric Wellwood. Both come to Toronto with a wealth of coaching knowledge.
Michael Dyck
Michael Dyck joins the Marlies after serving as head coach of the Vancouver Giants (WHL), where he compiled a record of 144-120-17-7 through five seasons. Internationally, the 54-year-old Dyck was an assistant coach with the Canadian World Junior team, earning a silver medal in 2021, a gold medal in 2022, and also capturing a gold medal at the 2021 IIHF World Championships.
Eric Wellwood
For Eric Wellwood, this is a promotion within the Toronto Maple Leafs organization. He spent the past two seasons as head coach of the Newfoundland Growlers in the ECHL. Wellwood compiled a regular season record of 90-42-6-1 and led the club to the Eastern Conference Final in consecutive seasons. He previously worked as head coach with the OHL’s Flint Firebirds (2018-21) and assistant coach with the Oshawa Generals (2014-16) and the Windsor Spitfires (2013-14).
With the Generals, he captured the OHL Championship and the Memorial Cup in 2014-15. The Marlies and their new coaching staff will look to rebound from a disappointing finish this past season.