Maple Leafs clean house, firing GM, coaching staff
Toronto Maple Leafs President Brendan Shanahan apparently had a short leash as he fired general manager David Nonis and interim coach Peter Horachek Sunday, one day after the Leafs finished with the league's fourth-worst record.
It was the second coach firing this season for the Leafs, who also got rid of Randy Carlyle in January. But while the team had defensive issues under Carlyle, it had trouble scoring under Horachek.
He went 9-28-5 in 42 games after being named on Jan. 7. The team's 30-44-8 record was its worst since 1996-97.
Assistants Steve Spott and Chris Dennis and goaltending coach Rick St. Croix also were fired in the housecleaning while Steve Staios will resume his duties as manager of player development.
Later, the team said director of pro scouting Steve Kasper and director of player development Jim Hughes had been fired.
Assistant general manager Kyle Dubas and director of player personnel Mark Hunter will share GM responsibilities on an interim basis while Shanahan looks for a new general manager.
Shanahan is scheduled to address the news media on Monday.
He had inherited Nonis and Carlyle when he was named team president at the end of last season. But rather than starting fresh, he changed up assistant GMs and assistant coaches and said he would evaluate Nonis and Caryle during the season.
The Maple Leafs put together a strong run and were 10 games over .500 in mid-December, but then they went 11-35-5 the rest of the way. They dealt most of their pending free agents before the March 2 deadline, deciding to hang on to core players Phil Kessel and Dion Phaneuf, who could be dealt during the summer.
The bad season will guarantee the Leafs a solid draft prospect. If they don't win the lottery (they have a 9.5% chance) to earn the right to draft Connor McDavid, they could end up McDavid teammate Dylan Strome or Boston College defenseman Noah Hanifin.
Toronto has been mentioned as a possible destination if Detroit Red Wings coach Mike Babcock decides to test his free agency this summer.
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