The Maple Leafs announced Friday they’ve added Steve Sullivan to the NHL bench as an assistant coach. He was already in the organization as an assistant for the AHL’s Toronto Marlies.
Sullivan, 51, fills the vacancy that opened Monday when the Leafs fired Marc Savard. Savard’s role was to manage the team’s power play; Sullivan will likely assume the same duties.
It’s a quick promotion for Sullivan, who’s only in his second year in the organization. The veteran of over 1,000 NHL games as a player assumed his first-ever high-level bench role when he was added as a Marlies assistant before the 2024-25 campaign.
That doesn’t mean Sullivan’s sat on his laurels since retiring in 2013, though. He spent multiple years in the Coyotes’ front office as a development coach and assistant general manager. He oversaw their AHL affiliate’s operations from 2017-21 and served as the club’s interim GM during their COVID bubble playoff appearance in 2020, following John Chayka’s resignation and before Bill Armstrong’s hiring.
The 5’9″ Sullivan was one of the most consistent and unheralded two-way forwards of his era. 221 of his 747 career points (29.6%) came with the man advantage. He’s now entrusted with helping to jumpstart a Toronto power play that ranks dead last in the league at 13.0%.