- Maple Leafs named Patrick O’Sullivan their Director of NHL Development on Sunday
- John Chayka has split the development staff by level, with Denver Manderson running the Marlies side
- Read below for O’Sullivan’s post-practice work with John Tavares and Auston Matthews
Patrick O’Sullivan is running player development for the Toronto Maple Leafs roster now.
Toronto announced Sunday that O’Sullivan has been named Director of NHL Development, a promotion from the development coach job he has held since 2023-24. He is the coach John Tavares and Auston Matthews stay out on the ice with after everybody else has gone in.
He has spent three seasons inside a development group stacked with former pros, working alongside Nik Antropov, Kyle Clifford, Denver Manderson and Jake Muzzin.
His sessions with Tavares turned into the best advertisement for the whole department. David Alter of The Hockey News laid out the technical work behind it: blade-angle control for puck protection below the goal line, net-front redirections, board retrievals under pressure.
Tavares was still good for 38 goals and 74 points in 2024-25 at age 34, then signed a four-year extension at a $4.38 million cap hit. Matthews uses optional gameday skates with O’Sullivan to keep his release where he wants it, and Max Domi has leaned on the same video breakdowns.
There is a reorganization sitting underneath the promotion. Jonah Fleisher pointed out that general manager John Chayka has carved up development by level, leaving Manderson with the Marlies and the ECHL group:
O’Sullivan is a Toronto kid who took the long way home. Minnesota drafted him 56th overall in 2003 and traded him to Los Angeles at the 2006 draft before he ever suited up for the Wild.
He finished with 161 points in 334 NHL games across the Kings, Oilers, Hurricanes, Wild and Coyotes, and his 53-point year in Los Angeles in 2007-08 was the peak.
Outside the rink he is known for Breaking Away, the 2015 memoir in which he described the physical and psychological abuse he took from his father as a kid. That experience shaped a coaching style built on communication rather than punishment.
Chayka and senior executive advisor Mats Sundin inherited O’Sullivan from the Brad Treliving regime and handed him more responsibility anyway, which is not how these front office overhauls usually go. Toronto has spent the summer bringing in outside names, including Crosby’s longtime trainer Andy O’Brien and player personnel director Jeremiah Crowe.
The job description barely changes for O’Sullivan. He just has the whole NHL roster to look after now instead of a handful of skaters who asked nicely.
