The good, the bad and the risky in the Maple Leafs' Jim Hiller hire

The Toronto Maple Leafs have had an eventful two days to say the least. From making the first trade of the offseason on Tuesday, to hiring a new head coach on Wednesday, new Maple Leafs GM John Chayka has wasted no time shaping his new team into his own vision.

Speaking of said new coach, the Toronto Maple Leafs have officially hired Jim Hiller to be their new bench boss for the 2026-27.

A former assistant coach with the Red Wings, Leafs, and Islanders, and more recently head coach of the LA Kings, Jim Hiller brings over a decade of NHL experience to his second stint with the Leafs.

Let's take a look at some pros and cons of this hire by the Mapl

The pros of Leafs going with Jim Hiller

To start with the good things, Jim Hiller brings some familiarity with the Leafs top guys. As an assistant coach in Toronto from 2015-19, Hiller worked with the likes of current Leafs cornerstones Auston Matthews, William Nylander, John Tavares, and Morgan Rielly, leading to individual success for all four players.

Matthews and Nylander were developed into star forwards during this era, with Tavares and Rielly putting up career-best numbers in 2018-19 under Hiller, and the familiarity with these four players can only be a good thing.

As mentioned before, Hiller is best-known for his recent time as head coach of the LA Kings, spanning from February 2024 - March 2026. During this time, while the Kings were nothing more than just a solid playoff contending team, their advanced stats were some of the league's best.

2nd in the entire NHL in 5v5 goal share is nothing to sneeze at, same with their 7th-placing expected goal share.

For comparison, the division-winning 2024-25 Maple Leafs finished 15th in expected goal share under former bench boss Craig Berube, a year where the Kings finished 4th.

While the actual on-ice results never got Hiller's Kings teams more than 105 points in a regular season, or a playoff series win for that matter, you have to take into account the rosters he was given, with the likes of Adrian Kempe and a late-30s Anze Kopitar as the Kings' top players.

The advanced stats are there, and with a (hopefully) stronger roster this season to play with, the right system under Hiller could easily get the Leafs back into the playoff picture.

The cons of Jim Hiller

One con that I briefly mentioned before was Hiller's lack of playoff success as a head coach, not once winning a round in his two trips to the postseason.

The Kings playoff seasons in 2024 and 2025 were nothing short of a disaster, combining for just three wins combined against the Edmonton Oilers, who they faced both years.

2024 saw the Kings lose in five games, and 2025 saw them blow a 2-0 series lead to then lose four in a row, highlighted by a Game 3 loss where they blew a 4-3 lead late in the third period, including an incorrect challenge by Hiller that led to an Oilers goal shortly after.

The only real playoff "success" Hiller has had in the NHL came from to trips to the Eastern Conference Finals from 2020 and 2021 as a member of the Islanders staff, but that's about it.

In Hiller's defense, NHL head coaches rarely win it all in their first few years behind the bench, so the hope is Hiller follows suit and finds more success in his second stint as a bench boss.

The next point I want to bring up is Hiller's style of coaching, as his LA Kings teams were known for their defense-first, trap style of play.

The trap can work, but does it win Stanley Cups? I'm not too sure.

Recent champions such as the Hurricanes, Panthers, and Avalanche have had a focus on speed and puck-moving, overwhelming opponents in the process.

Can Hiller follow suit, or is he more of an old-school minded coach like Craig Berube? Only time will tell.

Final verdict:

In short, I have mixed feelings about this hire. I would've much preferred a Bruce Cassidy or even Joe Pavelski hire for this role, but I can't be too mad about bringing Hiller in.

I don't love the idea of recycling coaches in the NHL, but in Hiller's case, he is fairly new to the league still. It's not like the Leafs are bringing in a Todd McLellan or Peter Laviolette type.

I again want to bring up the trap system, because there's no way that style of play is going to work that well on a team led by William Nylander and Auston Matthews.

The question is, did Hiller implement that style in LA because that's all he knows, or because that's what worked best with that roster?

Only time can tell, and while I would've preferred a different name behind the Leafs bench, Hiller is far from the worst option.

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