- Steve Simmons reported the Maple Leafs have hired Andy O’Brien as their new strength and conditioning coach
- O’Brien has trained Sidney Crosby since Crosby was 13 and owns four Cup rings from performance jobs in Pittsburgh and Florida
- Read below for the Hayley Wickenheiser wrinkle and what the hire says about John Chayka’s rebuilt Leafs
The Maple Leafs just hired the guy who has been building Sidney Crosby’s body since Crosby was a teenager.
Toronto Sun reporter Steve Simmons broke the news Saturday that the Leafs are bringing in Andy O’Brien as their new strength and conditioning coach and sport science lead. Toronto has not made it official yet.
O’Brien started working with Crosby when the Penguins captain was 13, and the two have stayed together for more than 20 years. Nathan MacKinnon, John Tavares, Taylor Hall and Matt Duchene have all trained with him.
His NHL résumé is heavier than most strength coaches ever put together.
Florida hired him to run strength and conditioning from 2005 to 2009. He later spent five seasons in Pittsburgh as director of sport science and performance, covering the back-to-back Cup wins in 2016 and 2017.
Then came a return to the Panthers as a high-performance consultant during their 2024 and 2025 titles. That is four rings in performance roles across two franchises.
Take a look at the two photos we posted, one of O’Brien running a session at his own performance gym and one of a Penguins dressing room stall:
Crosby was asked about that partnership for a CBC feature on the two of them, and he did not treat it like a business arrangement.
“When I first met Andy, it was all just about trying to move. You want to get strong and build that way, but at the same time, you’re just trying to be an athlete. He was really helpful in that. He’s a trainer, but he’s also a friend.”
Former Leafs defenseman Carlo Colaiacovo, now a TSN analyst, needed four words to sum up the reaction around Toronto:
There is one odd wrinkle. O’Brien used to train Hayley Wickenheiser, who was pushed out in Chayka’s front office purge earlier this summer.
Chayka has torn down and rebuilt nearly every support department in Toronto since taking the GM chair. Jim Hiller runs the bench now, Daniel Alfredsson and Mats Sundin are back in the building, and the scouting and research groups have new names all over them.
Auston Matthews lost a chunk of last season to a knee injury and the Leafs missed the playoffs for the first time in a decade. Keeping Matthews on the ice for 84 games is O’Brien’s job now.
