Who Is Jim Hiller? All You Need To Know About Toronto Maple Leafs New Head Coach

The Toronto Maple Leafs announced on Wednesday that Jim Hiller would become the franchise's 41st head coach, replacing Craig Berube after a season that ended with Toronto missing the playoffs for the first time since 2015-16. The hire is the latest move in a sweeping organisational overhaul led by new general manager John Chayka, who took over in May and has reshaped almost every part of the front office since.

Who Jim Hiller Is

Hiller is 57 years old and no stranger to Toronto. He spent four seasons as an assistant coach with the Maple Leafs from 2015 to 2019, working primarily under Mike Babcock during a period when the team qualified for the playoffs in three of those four seasons and drafted both Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner. He left in 2019 to join the New York Islanders as an assistant, then moved to the Los Angeles Kings, where he was promoted from assistant to head coach in February 2024 after Todd McLellan was fired.

He compiled a 93-58-24 record across parts of three seasons in Los Angeles, a .600 win percentage. The Kings fired him on March 1 following an 8-1 loss to Edmonton, replacing him with associate coach D.J. Smith.

Why Chayka Chose Him

Chayka said his search process involved speaking with more than 25 candidates, canvassing players, training staff and others around the league for their views. The feedback on Hiller stood out. "What separated Jim was that the players who have been around him really valued who he is as a person. They really felt they could trust he had their back," Chayka said.
Hiller's first comments to the Toronto media focused on culture rather than systems. "The biggest impact a coach can have is guiding the spirit of the team," he said, adding that establishing identity and buy-in would be his early priority before settling on tactical specifics.

What He Inherits

Toronto finished 32-36-14, last in the Atlantic Division, just one season after winning the division and reaching Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Second Round. The roster overhaul began the day before Hiller's hiring, with the Maple Leafs trading goaltender Joseph Woll and defenceman Simon Benoit to Philadelphia. Toronto also holds the first overall pick at the 2026 NHL Draft in Buffalo on June 26, with Penn State's Gavin McKenna the consensus top choice. Hiller said conversations with Matthews and William Nylander have not yet happened, but he intends to take his time getting to know a roster he believes is still capable of contending.