The Toronto Maple Leafs have tapped Jim Hiller as the successful candidate in their search for a new Head Coach. Hiller previously coached with the LA Kings as an assistant from July 2022 to February of 2024, when he was promoted to the interim head coach role. He was fired by the Kings in March of 2026, and in his two years with the team, the Kings lost in the first round twice, both times to the ultimate Western Conference Champion Edmonton Oilers.

Hiller also had stints as an assistant in Detroit, Toronto, and New York (Islanders), meaning he has a history with John Tavares, Auston Matthews, William Nylander, and Morgan Rielly. Tavares, Matthews, and Rielly each thrived offensively while Hiller was an assistant in Toronto, while Nylander had his worst statistical season of his career. Now, this was all the way back from 2015-2019, and Hiller was just the assistant, so it's not something to draw conclusions off of, but it is another data point.

Hiller is best known as a coach for connecting with his players, implementing a stifling and structured defensive system, and improving the power play. All three of those points were likely key reasons as to why he was hired in Toronto, while the latter two are what we need to focus on for fantasy.

In LA, Hiller helped develop Brandt Clarke on the back end, and saw Adrian Kempe thrive on offence despite the team lacking a true superstar and offence-focused system. With the star power in Toronto, there is real hope that despite Hiller not being the most interesting coaching name that was available, he might be just what the team needs.

The power play will be the big key, meaning that the top players should see a boost from last season, but the middle-of-the-lineup guys won't likely see much of a statistical improvement. That's a big deal for Morgan Rielly, who could either see his value jump back up if he ends up running the top power play, or continue to fall if he ends up off of the first unit, perhaps in favour of new addition Emil Andrae.

The goalies should also see some improvements, which would be a boon to Anthony Stolarz's value as a potential 50+ game starter next year as he looks to rebound from a very forgettable 2025-26 season. On the whole, the plus minus for the team should improve as well.

Players this Helps:

Players this Hurts:

Possibly the rest of the lineup.

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