The Toronto Maple Leafs are moving on from their assistant coach.
The team announced it fired Marc Savard on Monday. Savard was in the midst of his second season with the Maple leafs and was in charge of Toronto’s power play, which ranked dead last in the NHL at 13.3%.
The Maple Leafs tried several different ways to try to get something going on the man-advantage between putting John Tavares and William Nylander on the second unit and putting Nick Robertson on the top unit. But nothing seemed to work as Toronto went 0-for-10 on the power play during its three-game road trip in which they went 0-3-0.
Through the month of December, the Maple Leafs are 2-for-27 on the power play.
Savard joined the Maple Leafs in June 2024 shortly after they hired coach Craig Berube, who Savard worked under with the St. Louis Blues. Toronto’s power play was a strong attribute prior to Savard’s arrival. In his first season as assistant, the Maple Leafs were ninth in the NHL with a 24.8% rate on the power play.
Savard spent five seasons with the Boston Bruins. He suffered a severe concussion in March 2010 when he was on the receiving end of a controversial hit from Matt Cooke. He played in 25 games the following season and formally announced his retirement from the NHL in 2018.