Toronto Maple Leafs Keep Getting Bolder By Taking Daniel Alfredsson From Ottawa Senators

In an off-season in which they've been newsmakers virtually every day, the Toronto Maple Leafs' most shocking move might've come Tuesday afternoon.

The team hired former NHL star and Hockey Hall of Famer Daniel Alfredsson as an associate coach under new coach Jim Hiller.

That's right, Daniel Alfredsson – the greatest Ottawa Senators player of all-time – will now be working for the Maple Leafs team he battled diligently during his 18-year NHL career.

What The...??? Daniel Alfredsson Joins The Toronto Maple Leafs

The Senators Hall of Famer stunned the hockey world Tuesday by joining his former rivals. Reunited with Mats Sundin, Alfredsson crosses the Battle of Ontario lines to become a coach in Toronto.

Certainly, the Maple Leafs' public relations staff has had almost a daily workout sending news releases regarding hirings, firings, trades and free-agent signings this off-season. But there are still going to be days when they're back in the news cycle.

For one thing, there's the ongoing saga of Morgan Rielly that needs to come to a head.

Rielly remains in trade rumors, and although Leafs GM John Chayka has spoken about the team's willingness to go to training camp with Rielly on the roster, you have to believe that's a negotiating tactic and that Chayka doesn't intend on giving away Rielly just for cap space.

The Leafs also will have to address the future of right winger Max Domi, who is coming off complications from surgery and may not factor into Toronto's plans until he's healthy enough to rejoin the team.

Domi is very well-liked in Toronto's dressing room, but as Chayka looks to free up cap space, moving him once he's healthy will certainly be an option for Maple Leafs management.

There are probably other fringe moves coming, including decisions about the future of veterans, such as defenseman Phil Myers and forwards Steven Lorentz, Michael Pezzetta and Bo Groulx.

With defenseman Emil Andrae leaping over Myers in the Leafs' depth chart, and with Colton Sissons, Teddy Blueger, Brandon Duhaime and Nick Paul now ahead of Lorentz, Groulx and Pezzetta in the Leafs' top four forward lines, there will have to be additional roster moves.

Chayka currently is about $2.7 million over the cap ceiling, but the NHL's collective bargaining agreement allows teams to go above the ceiling by 10 percent in the off-season. So Chayka has time to prune his roster and improve the team as much as possible.

Report: Maple Leafs Not Interested In Paying Big Sweetener To Trade Morgan Rielly

The Toronto Maple Leafs are reportedly uninterested in paying a big sweetener to move off defenseman Morgan Rielly in a trade.

In their announcement of Alfredsson's hiring, the Leafs also announced assistant coaches Derek Lalonde and Mike Van Ryn wouldn't be returning.

As well, Hiller hired AHL-affiliate coach John Gruden and former NHL player Brad Werenka as assistant coaches.

Gruden just won a Calder Cup championship with the AHL's Toronto Marlies, while Werenka worked as an assistant coach for the University of Calgary's men's program. Hiller now has a full staff of coaches, and they'll have the rest of the summer to assemble a blueprint for success in Leafs Land.

That said, the news cycle keeps on churning, and if there's one thing we've learned this off-season, it's that Chayka is as bold a GM as it gets when it comes to being a newsmaker.

Chayka is proving to be almost the polar opposite of Brad Treliving, his predecessor in Toronto. Treliving more or less had trade paralysis in his tenure running the Maple Leafs, but Chayka really hasn't stopped making changes. That could lead to a stunning turnaround for the Buds.

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This story was originally published July 7, 2026 at 11:31 AM.