The Leafs are going with a very familiar face, and someone from the Babcock era of the Leafs. That era, we should remember, was one of high octane offence and some defensive struggles nothing like the epic problems of the last two years.

Hiller left the Leafs before Mike Babcock was fired and went to the New York Islanders where he was an assistant coach under Barry Trotz for three years. When Trotz left, Hiller moved on to an assistant job with the LA Kings under Todd McLellan. When McLellan was fired in the spring of 2024, he became head coach and lasted until the spring of this year where he was fired in favour of his assistant D.J. Smith, who used to be one of Babcock's assistants.

The insular coaching circle in the NHL in action.

History

Hiller is 57, and is from BC. He played as a winger in the NCAA for Northern Michigan and had a very limited NHL pot of coffee over a few years, first with the Kings who drafted him. He ended his playing career with several years in the DEL

He began coaching immediately after retiring from playing hockey, taking an assistant coach job in the WHL.

His first job in the NHL was with the Red Wings under Babcock in 2014, and Babcock immediately hired him for the Leafs when he took that job the next year.

Coaching Style

ESPN covered Hiller as a coach two years ago.

At this time the Kings were a team capable of making the playoffs, as they did this year, something we paid attention to as it impacted a draft pick the Leafs received for Scott Laughton. But the Kings were also a depleted team, short on talent and struggling at times to succeed. That was one of the reasons Hiller was fired in favour of Smith, who has now been replaced by Peter Laviolette.

General manager Rob Blake introduced Hiller as the Kings' permanent head coach Thursday, retaining the former Kings assistant who took over for the fired Todd McLellan in February and led Los Angeles to its third consecutive third-place finish in the Pacific Division and third straight early postseason ouster.
"Where Jim always seemed to come to the top was in the aspect that we've had time together," Blake said. "We've seen him work ... [and we're] very comfortable, very confident in Jim's approach to challenges. His presence in front of the group is very important to us. The way he can command the room and drive home the point that we make, the direction we want to go together, confident he can drive that home."
The GM and his first-time head coach remain committed to the style they've embraced with their 1-3-1 neutral zone trap. The system has made the Kings a nightmare to face, but L.A.'s players sometimes chafe at the regimented strategy – and even Hiller acknowledges it hinders the Kings' offensive production.
"We've started the process of looking at everything about our game," Hiller said. "We are a top defensive team in the National Hockey League. Have been for some years now. The identity of the L.A. Kings is a checking team that's difficult to play against. We feel we have to find some areas where we can create more offense, but not at the expense of what our identity is, and what we've taken some time to create."
Only two teams allowed fewer goals than the Kings (210) during the regular season, but Los Angeles was squarely in the middle of the NHL pack on offensive production despite a roster with expensive top-end talent.

That description is diametrically opposed to what the Maple Leafs did when he was an assistant.

There are many reports that Hiller's rapport with players is very good. From the LA Kings Insider as Hiller's first season was taking shape:

What ingredients led LA Kings management to push their chips into the middle of the table this offseason and say, ‘Jim Hiller is our guy’?
Dan Price has some of those answers. In fact he is anxious to share them.
When Price calls to talk about his good friend and mentor, he is wearing his skates and getting ready to take the ice for a Chicago Wolves practice in suburban Chicago where he has a new gig as an assistant coach for the American Hockey League team. [He still is with the Wolves and was behind the bench last night against the Marlies.]
“I can say this, Jim has been and continues to be one of the great mentors in my life both professionally on the hockey side but also just as a person as well,” said Price, who began his major junior hockey coaching career with Hiller in Chilliwack almost 20 years ago. “He just has a real genuine and sincere empathy towards people he interacts with and he has the great ability to balance, like as any great coach and great leader does, that great ability to balance how and when to push people around him to get the most out of them and also how to support them so they always know that it’s coming from a place of the fact that he cares about people and wants the best for them.”
Later, Price sends a detailed note adding context to his thoughts on Hiller including a long reference to Good Will Hunting.
Andrew Brewer worked as an assistant coach with Hiller in Detroit and Toronto. He is getting ready to ride out Hurricane Helene in Tampa when he answers the phone to talk about Hiller.
No worries – He and his family are high and dry and he, like Price, was anxious to talk about Hiller and why the time he’s spent with him was meaningful, not to mention why Brewer thinks he’s going to be a good fit with the LA Kings.
“He’s kind of the perfect coach for the era,” Brewer said.
He pointed to the close relationships Hiller built with high skill players like Pavel Datsyuk in Detroit and Auston Matthews in Toronto. He is comfortable with synthesizing data and assessing the analytic side of the game and has a keen understanding of the many nuances of the on-ice game.
“He’s such a well-rounded human being,” Brewer said. “It’s not ever one-dimensional. You never know what the conversation may include. He’s a unique blend of skill that a lot of times you don’t see.”
Offseason