Leafs, along with assistant coaches who were also two former Sharks, Tim Hunter and Rob Zettler, to make up the Toronto coaching staff. Playoff contention, falling short On June 11, 2008, the San Jose Sharks named former Detroit Red Wings assistant coach Todd McLellan as their new head coach for the 2008–09 season. Todd Richards, Trent Yawney and Jay Woodcroft were named assistant coaches, while Brett Heimlich was named staff assistant. During the off-season, San Jose's major headlines included signing defenseman Rob Blake, acquiring defensemen Dan Boyle and Brad Lukowich, as well as trading defenseman Craig Rivet to the Buffalo Sabres. Midway through the season, San Jose added playoff warrior Claude Lemieux to their roster. Lemieux, 43 years old, was rejoining the NHL after a five-year absence. At the trade deadline, San Jose acquired checking-line winger Travis Moen and the injured defenseman Kent Huskins from the Anaheim Ducks. The Sharks finished the regular season as presidents' Trophy champions with 53 wins and 117 points, both franchise records. Despite their successful regular season, the Sharks were eliminated by the eighth-seeded Anaheim Ducks in six games in the first round of the playoffs. The team was heavily criticized for once again failing to succeed in the postseason. General manager Doug Wilson promised the team would undergo significant changes in the off-season. In the 2009 off-season, Wilson held to his word with many major moves. The first was Christian Ehrhoff and Brad Lukowich to the Vancouver Canucks. It was widely believed that San Jose made this trade so it could free up salary cap space to make a second trade: Milan Michalek and Jonathan Cheechoo were sent to the Ottawa Senators in exchange for Dany Heatley and a draft pick. Assistant coach Todd Richards left and was replaced by Matt Shaw. Aside from the trades, several contracts were not renewed, including those of Mike Grier, Marcel Goc, Tomas Plihal and Alexei Semenov. San Jose also signed forward Scott Nichol and added grit to the team by signing Joe Callahan, Jed Ortmeyer and Manny Malhotra, plus Benn Ferriero. Jeremy Roenick and Claude Lemieux both announced their retirements from the NHL. Another major move by San Jose was stripping Patrick Marleau of the captaincy and assigning it to the newly re-signed Rob Blake. One reason for the move was that Marleau was named captain by Wilson and McLellan wanted to name his own. Dan Boyle