Will Jim Hiller adjust his style with Leafs?

The Toronto Maple Leafs underwent significant changes this offseason, many of which, at least with respect to their on-ice product, had an offensive bent. The Leafs acquired Darren Raddysh, arguably the best available offensive defenseman, from the Tampa Bay Lightning. They took playmaking winger Gavin McKenna with the first overall pick of the draft. Most recently, they swung a blockbuster trade for goal scoring winger Kirill Marchenko from the Columbus Blue Jackets.

One change that, at first blush, doesn’t align with the Leafs’ offensive focus this offseason, was made behind the bench. Toronto hired former Los Angeles Kings coach Jim Hiller to replace the fired Craig Berube as the team’s new head coach. During Hiller’s time in Los Angeles, the Kings were known for their drab, defense-first style of play, which seemingly wouldn’t mesh with Toronto’s offensively inclined roster.

On Tuesday’s episode of Daily Faceoff LIVE, hosts Tyler Yaremchuk and Carter Hutton were joined by Steve Peters to discuss whether Hiller will adapt to his personnel with the Leafs.

Tyler Yaremchuk: I’m curious if Hiller changes his style a little bit to adapt to the fact that he’s got some serious weapons in Toronto.

Steve Peters: This is going to be interesting to me. This hire’s different. When you look at the L.A. Kings, they were great defensively, very structured with a 1-3-1 through the neutral zone, second in goals against per game over the last two years that Hiller was in L.A., but they didn’t score. 24th in goals per game, and that’s with a healthy (Anze) Kopitar and (Quinton) Byfield and (Adrian) Kempe. This team just can’t score. I’m curious to see how he is going to bring his style of coaching into Toronto.

Let’s face it, the marriage between him and (general manager) John Chayka is based on Hiller’s use of analytics. I’ve talked to coached that have worked with him, and he uses analytics to help his decision making. I know John Chayka is an analytics-based general manager, so I think that’s why this marriage will work. I am concerned when you want to have a team that has players that can put up the numbers that the Toronto Maple Leafs can and want to play free, like a (William) Nylander wants to play free in the offensive zone, (Auston) Matthews likes to find those open areas, will that defensive-minded structure really play out on the offensive side of the puck? I think it’s one of those question marks that we’re going to keep an eye on early, because I’m not convinced this is the answer offensively in Toronto.

You can catch the full discussion and the rest of Tuesday’s episode here…