Toronto Maple Leafs bring in Dave Hakstol as assistant coach

Mike Babcock’s staff has been completed, as the Toronto Maple Leafs have hired former Philadelphia bench boss Dave Hakstol as an assistant coach.

The Toronto Maple Leafs have hired Dave Hakstol as an assistant coach, the team announced Saturday.

"“I’m excited to have the opportunity to join the Maple Leafs coaching staff,” Hakstol said in a statement. “I look forward to building relationships with the players and getting to work with the entire group.”"

He’ll operate as the Leafs’ penalty kill coach, replacing DJ Smith, who left the organization to become the new head coach of the Ottawa Senators. The Maple Leafs have now completed an overhaul of their assistant coaches. They previously replaced Jim Hiller with Paul McFarland in late May.

The 50-year-old was last with the Philadelphia Flyers, where he served as the head coach from 2015-18. He was fired following 12-15-4 start to this season. during his tenure with the Flyers, he compiled a 134-101-42 record, making the playoffs on two occasions. He’s also served as an assistant for Canada at the two previous World Hockey Championships.

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Previous to his stint in Philadelphia, Hakstol spent 15 seasons coaching at his alma mater, North Dakota. He started as an assistant coach in 2000 and worked his way up to head coach of the Fighting Hawks for the 2004-05 campaign. He finished with a 289-143-43 record behind the bench to go along with four WCHA conference championships and seven appearances in the Frozen Four. He was named the conference’s Coach of the Year in 2009 and 2015 and was a finalist for the Spencer Penrose Award on eight occasions.

Hakstol will now be tasked with bettering a Toronto penalty kill that finished 17th in the league last season with a 79.9 percent success rate. The move was met with some scrutiny, as the PK in Philadelphia got worse over time with Hakstol as the bench boss. In his first season, the Flyers killed off 80.5 percent of their penalties, good for 20th in the league.

By 2017-18, however, Philly was in 29th in the league in that respect, managing to kill off just 75.8 percent. In the 31 games before his dismissal, the Flyers were 30th in the NHL, going just 73.5 on the kill.

It’ll be interesting to see what players he opts to use on the PK, as the Leafs opted not to use a natural centre on either unit for the majority of the season, opting instead for a pair of wingers up front.