Ex-Edmonton Oilers player lands important new gig with Maple Leafs
A former Edmonton Oilers player will be stepping into a new role with the Toronto Maple Leafs next season.
It’s been a summer of change for the Toronto Maple Leafs, who have a new GM in John Chayka, a new coach with Jim Hiller, and a number of new front-office staff. Another piece of that shuffle was finalized on Sunday, and it included Patrick O’Sullivan.
The 41-year-old ex-Oilers forward has officially been hired as Toronto’s Director of NHL Development.
Patrick O’Sullivan has been named Director of NHL Development.
— Leafs PR (@LeafsPR) August 9, 2026
O’Sullivan initially joined the Toronto organization as a development coach back during the 2023-24 season and had been serving in that role for the past three seasons. It seems as though the Maple Leafs were impressed by his work, giving him this new promotion just over a month before the new season gets underway.
Drafted 56th overall by the Minnesota Wild in 2003, O’Sullivan had an NHL career that spanned six seasons between 2006 and 2012. During that time, he spent time with five teams, including the LA Kings, Oilers, Carolina Hurricanes, Wild, and Phoenix Coyotes.
He spent two seasons in the Alberta capital between 2008 and 2010, after Edmonton acquired him at the 2009 trade deadline in a deal with the Hurricanes for Erik Cole. O’Sullivan put up decent-to-middling numbers in Edmonton, notching 13 goals and 40 points in 92 games with the Oilers.
He was eventually shipped off to the Coyotes in the summer of 2010 in a trade that saw defenceman Jim Vandermeer come to Edmonton.
O’Sullivan hung up the skates after playing just eight games in Finland’s SM-Liiga in 2012-13.