According to the report from the sports worlds, The Toronto Maple Leafs have fired general manager Dave Nonis, interim coach Peter Horachek and his entire staff on the heels of the team’s worst season in almost 20 years. Maple Leafs assistant GM Kyle Dubas and Director of Player Personnel Mark Hunter will share Nonis’ duties on an interim basis. Nonis was dismissed Sunday with three years left on his contract. Team president Brendan Shanahan is looking for a full-time replacement.
In the NHL league, Toronto won just nine times in 42 games since Horacek replaced fired head coach Randy Carlyle on an interim basis in January.
Assistant general manager Kyle Dubas and director of player personnel Mark Hunter will share GM duties on an interim basis as the team looks to find a permanent replacement for Nonis.
In the period of Nonis, Toronto went 30-44-8 during the regular season, losing its highest number of games in regulation since 1996-97. The Maple Leafs have missed the playoffs in each of the last two years, noticeably slipping in the standings despite the presence of high-profile talents like Phil Kessel.
In Saturday, news from the draft, Toronto (30-44-8) finished 27th in the League, 30 points behind the Pittsburgh Penguins for the second wild card into the playoffs from the Eastern Conference. The Maple Leafs has a 9.5 percent chance of winning the NHL Draft Lottery.
In a statement, Horacheck assumed his role on Jan. 7 when the team fired Randy Carlyle. That jolt could not get the Leafs to the playoffs, as the team missed out on the postseason for the ninth time in 10 years. The team was 9-28-5 under Horachek’s leadership and finished the year with the NHL’s fourth worst record.
In addition, Shanahan and his new general manager have to find the right head coach to lead the team back to the playoffs and get their first division title since the 1999-2000 seasons and more importantly, their first Stanley Cup since the 1966-1967 seasons when they won their 13th Cup.