Maple Leafs Fire Bruins Legend From Coaching Staff After Disastrous Start
Marc Savard was fired Monday afternoon by the Leafs
The Toronto Maple Leafs enter every season with championship aspirations. However, after their 2025-26 campaign started with a 16-15-5 record, many analysts predict a major shakeup might be on the way.
Toronto was on the losing end of this offseason’s biggest move after shipping off 100-point scorer Mitch Marner to the Las Vegas Knights on July 1st.
A feeling-out period was expected after trading future Hall of Famer Auston Matthews’ right-hand man, but Leafs fans did not expect to be in last place in the Atlantic Division at the Christmas break.
Someone had to be held accountable for the team’s miserable showing, and that person apparently was assistant coach and former Boston Bruins star center Marc Savard.
Savard played 14 seasons in the NHL and spent his final five in Boston.
He made multiple playoff runs as a key part of the Bruins’ attack before head injuries shortened his career.
Savard was in charge of the Leafs’ power play. Their man-up unit was deemed an “unmitigated disaster” by Sportsnet writer Luke Fox, who called Toronto’s decision to fire Savard a “warning shot” for head coach Craig Berube.
The move happened Monday afternoon after Savard spent a season and a half with the Maple Leafs.
The Stanley Cup champion is still relatively young in his coaching career, which began in 2019 as an assistant for the St. Louis Blues.
He was then given his own OHL team, where he led the Windsor Spitfires to two consecutive playoff appearances and won nearly 70% of games he coached.
The Calgary Flames hired him as an assistant coach in 2023, before he was poached by Berube.
The 48-year-old Canadian played four seasons in Boston alongside Bruins head coach Marco Sturm.
