NHL notes: Maple Leafs fire coach, assistants and GM

The Associated Press
April 13, 2015 at 4:42AM
Toronto Maple Leafs coach Peter Horachek speaks to the media after his team played its last game of the NHL season, in Toronto on Saturday, April 11, 2015. The Maple Leafs lost to the Montreal Canadiens in a shootout. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Frank Gunn)
Horachek (Frank Gunn/Canadian Press via AP)

The Toronto Maple Leafs fired general manager Dave Nonis, interim coach Peter Horachek and his staff Sunday after the team's worst season in almost 20 years.

Nonis was dismissed Sunday with three years left on his contract. The Leafs went 30-44-8 with 68 points, the fewest in an 82-game season since 1996-97.

Toronto was in a playoff position in early January when club president Brendan Shanahan and Nonis fired coach Randy Carlyle and replaced him with Horachek. At the time, Nonis blamed inconsistency for the firing and said he is "never worried about" his own job security.

The Leafs went 9-28-5 under Horachek.

Assistants Steve Spott, Chris Dennis and Rick St. Croix also were fired. Steve Staios was moved back to the front office as manager of player development.

Assistant general manager Kyle Dubas and director of player personnel Mark Hunter will share interim duties until a general manager is hired.

Nolan out

The Buffalo Sabres fired coach Ted Nolan a day after their season ended with a second consecutive last-place finish.

General manager Tim Murray announced the decision in a release issued by the team. Nolan had two years left on a contract he signed a little more than a year ago.

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The Sabres had hired Nolan in November 2013 on an interim basis after Ron Rolston was fired. It was Nolan's second stint in Buffalo; he spent two seasons with the Sabres and was the NHL's coach of the year in 1997.

This time, he took over a rebuilding team that went 23-51-8 this season.

Jagr coming back

Jaromir Jagr and the Florida Panthers agreed to a one-year contract on the first day of the team's offseason.

Jagr had six goals and 12 assists in 20 games with the Panthers after arriving in a trade with New Jersey on Feb. 26. General manager Dale Tallon said Sunday that Jagr will receive a base salary of about $3.5 million next season.

Jagr, 43, said playing on a line with budding stars Aleksander Barkov and Jonathan Huberdeau has made him feel revitalized, and that he's already excited about Florida's possibilities next season.

Jagr has 722 goals and 1,080 assists in his career. His 1,802 points are fourth-best in NHL history, behind Wayne Gretzky, Mark Messier and Gordie Howe.

In this Jan. 6, 2015, photo, Toronto Maple Leafs' general manager Dave Nonis speaks to reporters at the Maple Leafs' practice facility in Toronto. The Maple Leafs have fired Nonis, interim coach Peter Horachek and his staff after the team's worst season in almost 20 years. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Darren Calabrese)
Nonis (The Minnesota Star Tribune)
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