According to Elliotte Friedman, Daniel Alfredsson is set to join the Maple Leafs coaching staff. The Hall of Famer, who spent the last three seasons as an Ottawa assistant coach, is expected to be named as Toronto’s associate head coach.

Alfredsson, 53, has been with the Senators in two separate stints. He served as a Senior Advisor to the club from 2015-17 and also as a development coach from 2023-24 before he was promoted to an assistant coach from December 18, 2023, up until this past season. He was also Sweden’s senior advisor in 2024-25 at the World Championships and their assistant coach at the NHL’s 4 Nations Faceoff.

Now, as Friedman points out, what was a bitter rivalry between Mats Sundin’s Leafs and Alfredsson’s Senators has now become a partnership in the Six. Toronto and Ottawa faced each other in the playoffs four times in five years during Alfredsson’s time with the Senators; Toronto won every series. Alfredsson’s connection with Sundin demonstrated respect for one another despite their clubs’ rivalries. The duo won gold together while representing Sweden at the 2006 Olympics in Turin.

The Leafs hired Sundin this offseason as a Senior Advisor after having a short tenure in management with his native Sweden. Before his first club gig in Toronto, he worked with Sweden’s men’s national team as a consultant on two occasions – first for the 2013 World Championship and again for the 2016 World Cup of Hockey.

In 18 NHL seasons, the first 17 with Ottawa, Alfredsson had 1,157 points, 444 were goals, 713 tallied as assists in 1,246 games, as well as 100 points in 124 playoff games. His 426 goals, 682 assists, and 1,108 points are all Senators records. His No. 11 was retired on Dec. 29, 2016, and he was the first modern-era player in Senators history to receive that honor.

More to come.