Photo: Barry McCluskey
The Toronto Maple Leafs have added John Gruden as an assistant coach on the staff of new head coach Jim Hiller.
Gruden, 56, joins the Maple Leafs after spending the past three seasons as head coach of the Toronto Marlies, leading the club to a Calder Cup championship in 2025-26. Following a fourth-place finish in the North Division during the regular season (36-26-5-5, 82 points), the Marlies went 16-8 in winning five playoff series, culminating with a five-game victory over the Chicago Wolves in the Calder Cup Finals.
In his three seasons, Gruden guided the Marlies to a record of 107-75-19-15 (.574).
Gruden previously coached in the NHL as an assistant with the New York Islanders (2018-22) and Boston Bruins (2022-23). He was also a head coach in the Ontario Hockey League for Flint (2015-16) and Hamilton (2016-18), winning the league championship during the 2017-18 season.
A native of Virginia, Minn., Gruden played professionally as a defenseman for 10 seasons following a four-year career at Ferris State University. He skated in 175 games in the AHL with the Providence Bruins and Grand Rapids Griffins, and was an AHL All-Star in 2002.
