Maple Leafs Hire MacLean As Assistant Coach

The Toronto Maple Leafs have hired Paul MacLean as an assistant coach.

MacLean joins head coach Sheldon Keefe’s staff in the Ontario capital just a week after former NHLer Manny Malholtra also came on board.

MacLean Brings Vast Experience to Maple Leafs’ Bench

Relative neophyte Sheldon Keefe — who has just 47 games of NHL head coaching experience after replacing the fired Mike Babcock last November — will certainly benefit from having someone as experienced MacLean at his disposal, as will the rest of the Maple Leafs’ young guns.

The 62-year-old was the head coach of the Ottawa Senators between 2011-12 and 2014-2015 and amassed a 114-90-35 record while in Canada’s capital, and won the Jack Adams Award in 2012-13.

MacLean spent the 2019-20 season as an assistant with the Columbus Blue Jackets and also spent time as an assistant in the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim/Anaheim Ducks and Detroit Red Wings organizations. He was part of the Stanley Cup-winning Red Wings’ staff in 2008.

Prior to his coaching career, MacLean played 11 seasons in the NHL for the St. Louis Blues, Winnipeg Jets, and Red Wings, recording 324 goals and 349 assists in 719-career games. He reached the 100-point plateau with the 1984-85 Jets.

MacLean joins a Maple Leafs squad that despite having a huge amount of young, high-octane talent, hasn’t won a playoff series since 2003-04.

The Maple Leafs have been bounced in the first round of the postseason in each of the past four seasons, most recently by the Columbus Blue Jackets in the Stanley Cup Qualifier round in early August.