How Maple Leafs’ Jim Hiller hiring impacts Auston Matthews’ future in Toronto originally appeared on The Sporting News.
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The Toronto Maple Leafs, finally, have their next head coach.
A long search led them to Jim Hiller, who has previously been with the Leafs as an assistant, and now the next stages of the offseason can begin in earnest.
That includes the Auston Matthews question.
There are two years left on Matthews’ contract. Will the Maple Leafs find a way to keep him for the long haul? Could a trade be coming?
It may all come down to how Matthews feels about the Hiller hiring, and they’ve already got a history.
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Jim Hiller hiring impact on Auston Matthews
The key thing to note is that Hiller was previously with Toronto from 2015 through 2019 as an assistant coach.
In that time, he ran the power play, so he worked with the Maple Leafs’ most talented offensive players.
And yes, that means Matthews, along with William Nylander.
There’s no real way to know from afar just how fondly (or not fondly) Matthews looks back on that time, but the difference about this hire versus a new face is that there will be some level of conviction for Matthews.
Matthews should know what he’s getting into with Hiller, one way or the other. It won’t be a mystery.
There’s a chance the Leafs even got Matthews’ input before this hire, or had past insights from Matthews on their mind. The familiarity of Hiller must’ve been viewed as a plus in the Maple Leafs’ minds.
That doesn’t guarantee anything about Matthews’ future. But it probably helps.
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