The Toronto Maple Leafs recently fired assistant coach Marc Savard after a slow start to the season, and the team is trying to find any way to get better. To fill the void of Savard, the Maple Leafs have looked internally at how they will replace him. They've found their guy, as they promoted Steve Sullivan from the team's AHL Toronto Marlies, according to hockey insider Darren Dreger.
“Sullivan’s promotion from the Marlies fills the Savard vacancy. He’s a powerplay guy but, the PP responsibilities will be shared while Sullivan gets up to speed on the Leafs bench,” Dreger wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
Sullivan had been working as the assistant coach for the Marlies since the start of the 2024-2025 season. He is a former player, as he's appeared in 1,011 career games with the Maple Leafs, New Jersey Devils, Chicago Blackhawks, Nashville Predators, Pittsburgh Penguins, and Phoenix Coyotes.
He worked in player development and was an assistant general manager for the Coyotes.
Savard was in his second season as an assistant for the team, and he had previously worked with head coach Craig Berube with the St. Louis Blues. He was hired by the Blues after the franchise won its first Stanley Cup in 2019.
It will be interesting to see if the Maple Leafs will be able to get themselves out of this hole, and they still have enough time to get things together. Hopefully, the promotion of Sullivan can get things on the right track for them as the season continues.
