Maple Leafs hire Savard as assistant coach

The Toronto Maple Leafs hired Marc Savard as an assistant coach, the team announced Sunday.

Savard mutually parted ways with the Calgary Flames in May after one season with the team.

The hiring completes the Maple Leafs' coaching staff for next season. Toronto hired Craig Berube as head coach in May and added Lane Lambert as an associate coach earlier in June. Assistant Mike Van Ryn, goaltending coach Curtis Sanford, and video coaches Jordan Bean and Sam Kim return from last year's staff.

Savard began his coaching career in St. Louis under Berube, running the Blues' third-ranked 24.3% power play in 2019-20. The 46-year-old left St. Louis after one season to be a head coach with the OHL's Windsor Spitfires for two years before returning to the NHL as an assistant with the Flames.

Under Savard, Calgary's power play struggled out of the gate, operating at just 12.1% before the new year. After, Jan. 1, though, it rebounded to a respectable 22.8% to finish the campaign. The Flames finished the season with the 26th-ranked power play.

On June 15, the Maple Leafs announced assistant Guy Boucher, who ran their power play in 2023-24, won't return next season.

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