Los Angeles Kings head coach Jim Hiller gives directions during the third period against the Penguins in Pittsburgh on Nov. 9. (AP file photo)

MARQUETTE — A national champion from Northern Michigan University will continue his NHL head coaching odyssey north of the border in his native Canada.

Jim Hiller, a star on the Wildcats’ 1991 NCAA national title team, has been named head coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs, one of the NHL’s storied Original Six franchises.

Hiller, 57, returns to the country’s largest city after spending four seasons as an assistant coach with the Maple Leafs from 2015-19.

Between stints in Toronto, Hiller was first an assistant and then head coach of the Los Angeles Kings, being fired on March 1 despite compiling a 93-58-24 overall record in parts of three seasons. He was fired following an 8-1 loss to Edmonton in the last few days of February.

Hiller replaces Craig Berube, who was let go on May 13 after two seasons, as part of an offseason overhaul led by new general manager John Chayka.

Hiller, a Port Alberni, British Columbia native, also coached 11 years in junior hockey, including stints with the Western Hockey League’s Tri-City Americans and several teams in the British Columbia Hockey League.

“(Hiller) has worked with successful teams throughout his career, connects well with players and brings a clear approach behind the bench,” Chayka said in a news release announcing Hiller’s hire. “We believe he’s the right person to lead our team and help us reach our goals.”

“I’m incredibly excited for the opportunity to return to Toronto and lead the Maple Leafs,” Hiller said in the release. “This is a special organization with great players, passionate fans and high expectations. I’m looking forward to getting to work with our players and staff and doing everything we can to help this team reach its full potential.”

Along with making new front-office additions, the Toronto GM traded goaltender Joseph Woll and defenseman Simon Benoit to the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday for blueliner Emil Andrae, goalie Samuel Ersson and a third-round pick in next week’s NHL draft.

Toronto owns the No. 1 pick in the draft, a first since taking Auston Matthews at the top of the 2016 draft.

Hiller’s national championship 1990-91 season at NMU included some eye-popping numbers in an era of more wide-open offensive hockey. As a team, the 38-5-4 Wildcats scored 283 goals in 47 games, more than six a contest during their run to their only national title in school history, which culminated in an 8-7 triple-overtime win over Boston University on March 30, 1991, in St. Paul, Minnesota.

In 43 games, the sophomore right wing Hiller accumulated 63 points, tied for second-most on the team with senior defenseman Brad Werenka as Hiller potted 22 goals. Leading the team in scoring that year was fellow sophomore Scott Beattie, who matched Hiller’s 41 assists and put in 48 goals for 89 points.

Hiller was a 10th round pick by the Kings in the 1989 NHL draft, and he turned pro a year after the national title was won, putting up 86 points in the follow-up ’91-’92 season at NMU.

He was a rookie with Los Angeles in the 1992-93 season, then was traded to the Detroit Red Wings before going to the New York Rangers in 1993-94. That would be his last action in the NHL as he played for clubs in Europe before retiring as a player in 2002.

He re-entered the NHL as a coach in July 2014 as an assistant with the Red Wings, one of his main duties overseeing Detroit’s power play.

After one year with the Wings, he followed Detroit head coach Mike Babcock to the Maple Leafs, where Hiller became an assistant, again in charge of its power play.

Then in 2019, he joined head coach Barry Trotz of the New York Islanders, but left when Trotz was fired three years later.

That precipitated his move in July 2022 to the Kings and hiring by head coach Todd McLellan. When McLellan was canned on Feb. 2, 2024, Hiller was first named interim coach, then earned the permanent tag during the following offseason.

Story contents based on an Associated Press story on Hiller’s hiring and an examination of Mining Journal archives. Journal Sports Editor Steve Brownlee’s email address is sbrownlee@miningjournal.net.